Some CEOs choose control over trust. This could prove costly.

Jonathan Tobias loves his job in the technology sector, in part because it allows him to work remotely.

Checking in from home means it’s just a five-minute walk from her Brooklyn apartment to daycare pickup.

“I’m really lucky,” he told Business Insider.

Tobias, 39, also knows that his employer’s benefits are increasingly rare. After years of talking about flexibility and work-life balance, leaders across industries are taking a tougher approach: mandating in-office attendance, tightening performance metrics, and driving AI-driven productivity.

“This is largely an employer-led market, which allows companies to behave this way,” said Alex Bouaziz, co-founder and CEO of HR and payroll platform Deel, referring to measures such as return-to-office orders.

Yet CEOs who reassert control could risk abusing it, business watchers warn. Workers may be respecting their jobs now, but prioritizing control over trust could backfire by hurting morale, engagement and, ultimately, retention, they say.

“This is the new normal”

Many CEOs these days are “demanding more” from workers, Rajesh Namboothory, senior vice president at staffing firm ManpowerGroup, told Business Insider. This could involve asking people to work longer hours or clock in on weekends.

“They view this efficiency improvement as a one-way street,” he said of CEOs.

Executives know they can “push the envelope” a little more, he said, because the job market is tighter than just a few years ago, when corporate veterans and the unemployed could get big pay raises. Today, Nambohiry said, some CEOs are saying, “OK, this is the new normal.” »

It makes sense that in a tighter labor market, CEOs might adopt stricter rules. Again Nambohiry said driving too hard could further erode worker engagement, which is at its lowest level in more than a decade in the United States, Gallup reports. Beyond that, there is concern that workers will quit when the job market eventually strengthens, he said.

Finding predictability

Given widespread economic uncertainty and the impact of AI, some executives might argue that it’s reasonable for CEOs to exert more control over their workforces, said Marlo Lyons, executive coach and host of the Work Unscripted podcast.

“Employers are simply trying to find predictability in an unpredictable world, using structure and technology as tools of control,” she told Business Insider.

However, this control can come at a price. Employees who view their employer as “unfriendly” report higher rates of workplace toxicity and mental health issues, Businessolver reports. This can reduce productivity and increase the number of workers complaining of illness, according to the benefits company.

“We tend to have very strong memories of things that happened and how we were treated when times are tough,” Dion Love, a labor market strategist at research firm Gartner, told Business Insider.

Flip the script

Workers can also remember what their employers didn’t do, like helping them train on how to use AI. In a recent EY survey of about 400 U.S. executives at large companies, only about one in four respondents said investing in their employees over the next few years was a top concern.

Employers need to educate workers about AI, said Dan Kaplan, managing partner and head of human resources at consulting firm ZRG. Otherwise, he told Business Insider, employees who fear AI will take their jobs will likely be reluctant to adopt it. “You’re afraid it’s the enemy,” Kaplan said, even as CEOs themselves embrace the technology.

Gartner’s Love said that bosses who navigate this period skillfully have the opportunity to “turn the tables” in an employer market by investing in workers and providing greater career development opportunities for employees, for example.

Workers who still have power

Although many employees have no choice but to accept increased demands from CEOs, some workers have a better chance of taking the lead. For in-demand talent, like machine learning specialists, there’s still “legitimate competition,” said Matt Martin, CEO and co-founder of Clockwise, which uses AI to optimize workers’ schedules.

He said money flowing into AI companies could prompt some workers dissatisfied with their bosses’ demands to consider joining these growing companies.

In-demand employees are also more likely to balk when companies impose things like RTO — and flee to more flexible employment, Deel’s Bouaziz said. This benefited his business focused on remote work, he said.

When Tobias, the tech worker from Brooklyn, posts about corporate life on social media, he sometimes hears people say: Pre-pandemic workplace norms, like having little say in where you work, are a thing of the past.

Yet as more CEOs tighten the reins, he expects those days to return — at least at some companies. Early-career workers might feel the pressure the most, he suggests.

It “could toughen them up and get them used to the corporate world — or it could potentially backfire,” Tobias said.

Do you have a story to share about your workplace? Contact Tim Paradis at tparadis@businessinsider.com or Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert at ktl@businessinsider.com.