Five days back at the office: Why Wix’s decision struck a nerve
Research, resistance, and the future of hybrid work collide in Israel’s tech sector.
The email sent last week by Wix president Nir Zohar to the company’s employees, announcing a return to a five-day, in-office workweek, caused a stir across the high-tech industry, one perhaps rivaled only by the uproar sparked by Intel’s decision to cancel free coffee stations at the end of 2024 (the coffee, incidentally, was reinstated after public criticism). LinkedIn quickly filled with posts both supporting and condemning the move, while companies that continue to operate under hybrid models rushed to emphasize their flexibility in an effort to attract talent interested in working from home, even if only one or two days a week.
The return of Wix’s roughly 3,000 employees to the office starting in February places the company alongside a broader global trend led by giants such as Amazon and Dell. In Israel, Wix said, the war delayed its return to full in-office work. Zohar framed the move as a necessity driven by the rapid changes artificial intelligence is bringing to the industry. “We need to move fast, continue our growth and the best way is to do this together,” he wrote.
While many companies, including Wix, justify a return to the office on the grounds of productivity, research suggests that hybrid work is often more efficient. A 2024 study by the University of Pittsburgh, which analyzed data from S&P 500 companies, found that return-to-office mandates had no positive impact on financial performance or company value. The researchers, Mark Ma and Yuye Ding, concluded that such moves were associated with lower employee satisfaction and diminished trust in management. In many cases, they argued, the motivation was less about productivity and more about managers’ desire to regain a sense of control or find a scapegoat for weak business results.
These findings are reinforced by a large-scale Microsoft study published in Nature Human Behaviour, which tracked roughly 60,000 employees. It found that after switching to remote work, employees increased their weekly working hours by about 10%, partly because commuting time was converted into net working time.
The cost of rigid return-to-office policies is not limited to declining morale. There is also a significant social impact, particularly on women. Data shows that employee turnover among women in workplaces that require five days a week in the office is three times higher than among men. Mothers of young children are disproportionately affected, often forced either to leave the workforce or to accept lower-paying roles that allow greater flexibility. The University of Pittsburgh study quantified this effect, identifying a 14% increase in employee turnover following return-to-office announcements, with women and senior employees hit hardest.
For now, Wix’s move does not appear to mark the end of the hybrid era. If anything, artificial intelligence may create new opportunities for flexibility. “While the public discourse tends to frame organizational moves as a ‘return to the office,’ in practice most organizations are not eliminating flexibility but rather restructuring the hybrid model,” says Inbal Namir, managing director at Deloitte and head of its future-of-work practice. “The prevailing model today typically includes one or two remote days per week alongside a stable office presence, with a shift from broad declarations to clear procedures, what days can be worked from home, which roles qualify, and how to ensure fairness and consistency.”
According to Namir, this reflects a growing recognition that flexibility is not merely a perk, but a management tool that supports stability, coordination, and clear expectations. “At the same time, the introduction of AI into organizations is beginning to fundamentally change the nature of roles, automating tasks, increasing productivity, and reducing workloads. These efficiency gains not only generate financial savings, but also create room to improve working conditions.”
The direction is clear: companies want employees in the office more days each week, but there is still no sweeping move toward a full, across-the-board return.
Sarit Itzhakov, CEO of Colliers Israel and an expert on the office market, describes this as an extension of a trend visible for the past year. “We’re seeing a clear increase in the number of days employees are expected to work from the office in many Israeli companies,” she says. “About 70% of organizations are currently encouraging employees to come in more frequently.” According to Itzhakov, the trend is being led by high-tech and defense companies, where expectations have already shifted toward at least three to four in-office days a week, as well as by financial institutions such as major banks and insurance firms.
Globally, many companies have adopted structured hybrid models that preserve flexibility while setting clear expectations for office attendance. According to JLL’s Workforce Preference Barometer 2025, which surveyed 8,700 employees across 31 countries, 66% of organizations now operate under such frameworks. The study found that flexibility, defined as control over time, not just location, matters more to employees than salary. Work-life balance (65%) now ranks ahead of pay (56%) as the most important factor in workplace satisfaction.
In Israel’s financial sector, however, policies have remained relatively rigid since 2020. Bank Hapoalim, Leumi, and Discount allow one work-from-home day per week, while Mizrahi Tefahot and the International Bank of Israel operate exclusively from the office. Insurance companies including Clal, Migdal, and Harel also permit one remote day. Credit card companies Isracard and Cal follow the same policy, while Max allows two remote days, excluding Sundays and Thursdays.
Communications companies tend to be more flexible. At Bezeq, headquarters employees may work from home one day a week with managerial coordination; IT staff are allowed two days, and call-center employees enjoy broader flexibility depending on operational needs. Pelephone and Yes permit two remote days a week.
Cellcom recently formalized its policy: most headquarters employees will work from home on Wednesdays, while IT staff will do so on Mondays and Wednesdays, except during holidays and company-wide vacation periods. At HOT, employees are allowed to work from home one day a week.
The intensity of the reaction to Wix’s announcement appears to reflect fears that other companies may follow its lead. For now, many major employers continue to maintain hybrid arrangements. Intel, which employs around 10,000 people in Israel, allows one remote day a week, with additional flexibility granted to certain roles. Microsoft, with about 3,000 employees in Israel, has not changed its policy since 2020 and continues to allow hybrid and flexible work. Amdocs permits flexible arrangements with three in-office days per week, as does monday.com.
At Gong, which employs around 500 people in Israel and requires three office days a week, management describes the model as a balance between competing needs. “Coming to the office is essential for maintaining organizational culture, enabling spontaneous collaboration, and strengthening professional relationships,” says Moran Perelman, Israel GM at Gong. “At the same time, flexibility and autonomy allow employees to better integrate work with their personal and family lives.”
