It’s Friday: Hello, Anyone There?

These days, trying to find a colleague on a Friday varies from a crapshoot to a lost cause. You email. You call. If you’re lucky, you get a response to talk Monday—at 1:30 pm.  At least, that’s how many corporate leaders see it, and now attendance figures are backing that up.

Despite the best efforts of companies that want workers in their offices more, Fridays are falling off a cliff in the US. Just 12.4% of in-office visits happen on Fridays, which is approximately half those on Tuesdays (24.3%), Wednesdays (23.7%) and Thursdays (21.8%), according to data from Placer.ai Nationwide Office Building Index. It’s becoming a huge bone of contention and worry for leaders, especially those who found success through working a couple thousand Fridays and issued policies last year for five days in the office. “Top leaders are asking things like, ‘How do I get employees to be butts-in-seats for nine hours, Monday through Friday?’” says Karrin Randle, associate client partner in the Culture, Change and Communication practice at Korn Ferry.

Why aren’t Fridays working? Experts note that low Friday turnout is a symptom of a bigger problem: the failure of many firms to get employees excited by work. Engagement figures from Gallup suggest that just 21% of employees like their jobs, meaning that most would rather not be there—and by Friday, they’re just looking forward to the weekend, not heading into the office again. At the same time, employee data consistently suggests that many in-office workers end up spending their days in video meetings. “They’re not getting great connection with colleagues; they aren’t getting quality work done; they don’t see a point,” says Randle. What’s more, many of those staying home are quick to point out they are still working hard, and sometimes more efficiently.

While the pandemic is commonly pointed to as the cause of the turn away from Fridays, experts say that may not be true. In the years leading up to the pandemic, workers were already pushing for more flexibility around starting at home and coming in later, leaving earlier, and yes—working from home. “This was already a trend,” says retail expert Craig Rowley, senior client partner at Korn Ferry.

As for who can actually be found at their office desks on Fridays—well, it depends. “It’s really industry by industry,” says Dennis Carey, vice chairman of Korn Ferry. Tech and creative fields are notably more flexible about Fridays, as is retail, where only 11% percent of firms require five-day in-office schedules, according to a 2025 poll by Korn Ferry. Other industries, like finance, have doubled-down on in-office Fridays. Often, industries follow the norms set by one or two dominant companies. “Once one of those big dominos falls, that’s the way it goes for everyone,” says Carey.

To be sure, one solution is to mandate in-office Fridays. But that leads to a second issue: enforcement. Managers are the default eyes and ears of attendance and are put in the difficult position of both insisting on Friday attendance and tracking it. “You’ve got managers spending their time on counting swipes rather than on what their people are actually doing,” says Renee Whalen, a senior client partner in Korn Ferry’s Professional Search practice.

Among firms that are aiming for higher turnout, new efforts are underway to improve in-office engagement. This means scheduling not just meetings, but also events, food, and programming on chosen days. Other firms, though, are taking the more dramatic step and giving up on Fridays. These firms focus on intense programming Tuesday through Thursday, and boosting person-to-person engagement then. “Designing those days in ways that are really valuable and worth people’s time and energy might get more returns than making someone come in on Friday,” says Randle.

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