The remote work wars are largely over by 2025, but not everywhere. The pandemic-era of white-collar workers logging on from home and staying there all week largely ended in 2024, as bosses decided to call them back in to work as many as 5 days a week. (Amazon was a notable company leading the charge, while Elon Musk famously said remote workers were “pretending” to do their jobs.) But commercial real-estate giant JLL found something new in its September 2025 report on the future of hybrid work: a new remote renegade workplace archetype.
This is not the disengaged quiet quitters of the pandemic era, nor is it a staunch traditionalist. This is what JLL called an empowered “non-compliers”: high-value, highly skilled employees who simply ignore office attendance rules when it doesn’t suit them—and they have the leverage to get away with it.
According to the JLL Workforce Preference Barometer 2025, which surveyed 8,700 office workers globally, a significant disconnect has opened between policy acceptance and actual practice. While 72% of the global workforce views office attendance policies positively, that sentiment does not guarantee they actually show up.
Who are the Non-Compliers?
The report paints a vivid demographic profile of this group. Unlike “compliers,” who tend to be older and value stability, the empowered non-complier is typically younger—often between 30 and 34 years old. They are frequently found in the tech sector, particularly in North America, and often hold managerial roles.
“They are highly trained, recent hires and often managers,” JLL wrote. “Strikingly, they tend to work at companies offering more perks,” such as high-quality offices, childcare, concierge services, free meals, and wellbeing programs. For these workers, JLL continued, non-compliance is often driven by personal constraints rather than a dislike of the office itself (or a disregard for all the free food). Many are caregivers who feel their time constraints are “poorly understood and supported at work,” and commuting is a major factor, too.
High performers, with a skill set to navigate job changes, are a higher flight risk because they know they’re valuable on the open market. “Their non-compliance is less a rejection than a calculated decision based on their sense of empowerment,” JLL concludes, adding that this could change if there’s “turbulence” in the labor market. (Certainly, the emergence of what Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell called a “low-hire, low-fire” jobs market would qualify as precisely that kind of turbulence.) The report notes that while compliance with mandates is as high as 90% in France and Italy, it drops to 74% in the U.S., where this “empowered” demographic is concentrated.
The broken psychological contract
The rise of the non-complier signals a broader fracture in the “psychological contract” between employer and employee. The report highlights that burnout has become a serious threat to operations, with nearly 40% of global office workers feeling overwhelmed.
When this implicit contract of being valued is broken, the relationship becomes transactional. Employees stop seeking engagement and start seeking compensation, demanding increased commuting stipends or strictly flexible hours. If the office experience feels “commute-worthy”—offering better technology and amenities than home—acceptance of policies rises. However, almost 40% of global respondents believe their office experience needs improvement, citing issues ranging from noise to a lack of nutritious food.
Two management professors, Peter Cappelli and Ranya Nehmeh, told Fortune in October that they had found a similarly broken contract while researching their recent book on remote work, In Praise of the Office. Nehmeh said they found Gen Z’s behavior in the workplace showed signs of a broken contract between worker and management, as it’s a “very transactional” attitude, which she described as “I show up, I do my job, I get out. I don’t want to be part of anything else.”
Both Cappelli and Nehmeh recommended ending remote work, ironically, because of Gen Z, who are lacking a specific type of mentorship at a crucial point in their careers. “I don’t need to be in the office,” Cappelli said, so he often works remotely. “But I can also see how much worse the place is, because people like me are not in the office, and because we’re not in, the junior people aren’t there either, and so nobody’s there, right?” He described the dynamic as “fine for me … but bad for everyone else.” His findings aligned with JLL’s finding that the empowered non-complier, precisely the sort of high-performing colleague who would be an excellent mentor, that young workers could learn from, are probably not in the office that much themselves.
Ultimately, the empowered non-complier is signaling a shift in what “flexibility” means. It is no longer just about where work happens, but when. Work-life balance has overtaken salary as the top priority for employees globally, cited by 65% of office workers.
The report suggests that successful organizations will stop relying on blanket mandates and instead “personalize the approach.” For the empowered non-complier, retention hinges on autonomy, and JLL recommends that employers move beyond counting days in the office and focus on “management of time over place,” recognizing that for this valuable cohort, flexibility is the new currency of loyalty.
But as Cappelli told Fortune in October, this won’t be an easy thing, because the problems with remote work are really reflective of wider failures on the part of managers. “Management’s just gotten worse,” he said. Commenting on his finding that remote work has resulted in so many meetings that managers are holding post-meeting meetings to make sure the message got through, he added: “It’s a mess. Those things could be fixed, right? But they’re not being fixed.”
The price of oil (as measured by Brent crude) fell nearly 2% overnight as traders digested the U.S. invasion of Venezuela and the capture of its dictator, Nicolás Maduro. Perhaps counterintuitively, they concluded that this would not have much effect on the price of oil—at least in the short term.
U.S. oil company stocks jumped up sharply in overnight trading. Chevron was up 7.82% premarket, Halliburton was up 8.45%, ConocoPhillips rose 7.54%, and ExxonMobil climbed 3.95%.
That, again, was something of a surprise, given that the potential for extra supply from Venezuela—assuming President Donald Trump gets the cooperation he wants from Maduro’s successor—would presumably be more likely to suppress U.S. oil prices than raise them.
The reality is that although Venezuela has vast reserves—about 17% of the entire planet’s oil is under Venezuelan soil—its production is feeble. Production declined by 75% between 2013 and 2020, according to the Financial Times, after successive Chavismo regimes nationalized the oil companies there, kicked out foreign oil drilling expertise, and triggered a flight of its own drilling specialists. It now supplies less than 1% of daily global oil supply.
TradingEconomics.com
In order to tap the full potential of Venezuelan oil, U.S companies would need cast-iron guarantees that their assets there would not be renationalized; that they would be allowed to commercialize what they find; and that they would be free to explore Venezuela’s Orinoco oil belt for wells. The logistics are formidable and would require billions in investment and years of building to complete.
In that context, traders were in a decidedly risk-on mood this morning. S&P 500 futures were up 0.29%, after markets rose strongly in Asia and Europe. The STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.45% in early trading; Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 2.97%, and the South Korea KOSPI was up 3.43%. Even Bitcoin is having a good day—it’s at $92.7K this morning after spending much of the Christmas period in the $80K band.
Likewise, following Trump’s renewed threat to invade Greenland, investors piled into defense stocks globally. German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall was up 7.4% before lunch in Europe; Sweden’s Saab AB (aircraft, not cars!) was up 5.75%; and Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was up 8.39%.
It’s a rare good day for the U.S. dollar, too. “Today’s initial reaction has been to send the dollar higher,” ING analyst Chris Turner told clients this morning. “The initial market reaction to Saturday’s extraordinary events in Venezuela has been a modest flight to quality, where gold and the Swiss franc are bid, and the dollar has found some support, too. The dollar was up 0.32% on the ICE U.S. Dollar Index (which compares the USD to a basket of major foreign currencies) despite being down by 9% over the last 12 months. Oil contracts are settled in dollars, so when the market is particularly active or volatile the demand for dollars goes up, strengthening the greenback against others.
Here’s a snapshot of the markets ahead of the opening bell in New York this morning:
S&P 500 futures were up 0.29% this morning. The last session closed up 0.19%.
STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.45% in early trading.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2% in early trading.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 2.97%.
China’s CSI 300 was up 0.9%.
The South Korea KOSPI was up 3.43%.
India’s NIFTY 50 was down 0.3%
Bitcoin rose to $92.7K.
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Good morning. A little over two months ago, I interviewed Venezuelan opposition leader and 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mariá Corina Machado at the Fortune Global Forum. She spoke to us from an undisclosed location, later escaped to Norway, and remains in hiding. One of the most prominent advocates for reform in a country that was praised as a stable and affluent democracy just a generation ago, Machado was blocked from running for president in Venezuela’s 2024 election. Edmundo González ran in her place and won, according to independent observers.
With Donald Trump’s surprise invasion of Venezuela to arrest President Nicolás Maduro and his wife on drug trafficking charges, many might have assumed that Machado would be chosen to lead. Instead, Trump picked Maduro’s deputy, Delcy Rodríguez, saying Machado lacked the respect needed.
Of course, much can change in the coming days. Rodríguez described Trump’s move as a criminal military intervention that violated international law while Machado thanked the U.S. for its action in a letter posted on X. But anyone who leads Venezuela right now faces a Faustian choice, as Trump has said the U.S. will temporarily “run” the country and boasted that Americans are “going to be taking a tremendous amount of wealth out of the ground” from the country’s vast oil reserves.
Rodríguez refuses to accept any violation of national sovereignty, despite Trump’s threats, and Machado won’t, either. The Nobel Prize winner said as much in her letter and was clearly hesitant to endorse the administration’s methods when we spoke in October. At that time, the U.S. was deploying war ships to the Caribbean and had blown up ten Venezuelan boats because of suspected drug trafficking. When I asked her if it was right for the U.S. to take such unilateral action, she deflected to accusing Maduro of criminal actions. While Machado welcomes U.S. support—“Maduro started the war; President Trump is ending the war”—she made it clear that Venezuelans could handle it from here.
“We are ready to take over; we know what we need to do,” she told me back in October, predicting a $1.7 trillion opportunity for foreign investors. “Venezuela will be the single biggest economic opportunity for decades to come in this region.” You can watch the full interview here. And be sure to check out Jeff Sonnenfeld’s memo to CEOs on the aftermath of U.S. action in Venezuela.
The urgent question following the U.S.’s ouster of Maduro is how the U.S. will “run” Venezuela, as Trump has promised to do. Trump suggested Sunday night that the U.S. has direct control of the country, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the U.S. will coerce Venezuela’s new leadership to get what it wants.
Bitcoin surges
Bitcoin hit a three-week high of just over $93,000 Monday following the U.S.’s arrest of Maduro. Investors seem to be regarding the top cryptocurrency as a safe haven amid geopolitical turmoil. Bitcoin ended 2025 down 6.5%.
Is Greenland next?
The U.S.’s intervention in Venezuela is heightening tensions between Denmark and Washington as Trump and his allies suggest that they’re eyeing Greenland, a Danish territory, next. “We do need Greenland,” Trump said Sunday. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has demanded that Trump stop his “threats against a historically close ally.”
The risk of ‘fiscal dominance’
Former Fed Chair Janet Yellen is warning that preconditions for “fiscal dominance”—in which the Federal Reserve maintains low interest rates to minimize debt servicing costs, rather than control inflation, due to the size of the federal debt—“are clearly strengthening.” If Trump succeeds in convincing the Fed to keep rates low for that reason, the U.S. could become a “banana republic,” Yellen says.
College matters again
As white collar hiring slows and companies dismantle DEI mandates, corporate recruiters are once again relying on university credentials as a way to screen potential candidates, favoring elite institutions. A survey of employers found that a quarter are now hiring from a shortlist of schools, up from 17% in 2022.
The U.S. Congress is back in session this week as the deadline for the next government shutdown looms less than four weeks away, though both Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated over the holidays that another funding stalemate is unlikely.
The markets
S&P 500 futures were up 0.27% this morning. The last session closed up 0.19%. STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.36% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.13% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 2.97%. China’s CSI 300 was up 1.90%. The South Korea KOSPI was up 3.43%. India’s NIFTY 50 was down 0.3%. Bitcoin was at $93K.
The commuter life might be a drag, but what if your office was based in Buckingham Palace? Might that sweeten the deal?
Britain’s Royal Household is currently recruiting for a senior correspondence officer who will begin a two-year contract in March 2026. The role includes writing letters on behalf of the nation’s Royal family, paying £32,000 ($43,000) a year for the job.
Being a letter-writer sounds like an unusual role, but the posting explains: “Thousands of letters are addressed to The Monarch and Royal Family every year. Working as part of the Correspondence team, your challenge will be to ensure that each one receives a timely and well-composed response.”
Working members of the Royal Family—those which are most likely to receive correspondence from the public include King Charles, Queen Consort Camilla, The Prince of Wales (Prince William) and the Princess of Wales (born Catherine or “Kate” Middleton). Senior Royals also include the Princess Royal (Princess Anne), the Duke of Edinburgh (Prince Edward, the youngest child of Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip), and his wife, the Duchess of Edinburgh (formerly known as Sophie Wessex).
When approached for comment, Buckingham Palace did not confirm which members of the Royal Family the candidate would be working with.
The posting details that the role will have a “specific portfolio” which forms part of a wider team responding to letters sent in by the public regarding social, community, and national matters. The correspondence team will then “draft bespoke responses that answer varying and often unique queries.”
A key responsibility of the role also entails “remain[ing] focused whilst processing a large number of letters, ensuring that the right response is delivered at exactly the right time.”
The job also comes with some unusual perks. A complimentary lunch is offered on-site “to keep you fuelled throughout the day,” the posting adds. The Mountbatten-Windsor family appears to have embraced the benefits of hybrid work. The post says: “Flexible and hybrid working varies across different roles, and we’ll discuss the options available to you that will suit both your job requirements and individual preferences.”
As well as more common benefits like parental leave and volunteering days, the successful applicant will also receive complimentary admission to any location owned by the Royal Household, as well as discounts at shops under the Royal Household umbrella.
The extras might provide some much-needed discretionary income in one of the world’s most expensive cities. The role’s modest salary of £32,000 a year is above London’s living wage—a salary high enough to maintain a normal standard of living—which the UK’s Living Wage Foundation estimates is £28,860 ($38,751) a year. However, the salary does come in behind the median gross annual earnings for full-time employees in the UK which, according to latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, sits at £39,039 ($52,419) a year.
In a world where AI is expected to unlock a new era of efficiency, it seems the Royal Family would rather stick with human responses instead of outsourcing to an artificial counterpart. Increasingly, such roles may become harder to find. A report from Microsoft researchers studying the occupational implications of generative AI in July revealed that among the roles most likely to be disrupted were translators, writers, editors, and data scientists chief among them.
The report added: “LLMs can contribute to broader parts of the information life cycle—including creation, interpretation, and communication, in more flexible ways than earlier technologies.”
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Politics8 years ago