Employers: The Burden of Going Back Into The Office Is Not as Bad as You Think — It's Worse. Leaders falsely perceive employee wellbeing to be already high and believe the burden of going to the office will be not that bad in this broader context. This disconnect between perception and reality is what I call the "Wellbeing Paradox."

In the modern business landscape, the wellbeing of employees is no longer a peripheral concern. And it has become a central metric in determining the effectiveness of hybrid work policies, as found in new survey research from the Information Services Group.

Of course, people have better wellbeing if they have greater flexibility of when to come to the office and when to work from home. However, a worrying trend has emerged: leaders often overestimate the wellbeing of their employees, as reported by a study from Deloitte and Workplace Intelligence.

The result? Leaders are willing to sacrifice employee wellbeing and mandate a return to office for most or all of the work week. That's because they perceive employee wellbeing to be already high, and believe the burden of going to the office will be not that bad in this broader context.