Remote or not, workers are drifting back toward the city
Posted: 27th Mar 2026
The post-pandemic shift away from cities has reversed since 2022, with return-to-office mandates playing a role, according to a new report on global hiring trends.
Analyzing more than one million worker contracts across 37,000 companies worldwide, HR and recruitment platform Deel found that people were moving closer to their main offices, even if they still work from home.
The study found the average distance between employees and major cities rose in 2022 but has declined each year since. The trend is particularly pronounced in the US, where workers are now located as close to major cities as they were in 2021. Similar patterns appear in the UK and France.
Related Articles
