Young staff reluctant to return to the office

Mr David Gross, a New York-based advertising agency executive, convened the troops over Zoom this month to deliver a message he and his fellow partners were eager to share: It was time to think about coming back to the office.

Mr Gross, 40, wasn't sure how employees, many in their 20s and early 30s, would take it. The initial response - dead silence - wasn't encouraging. Then one young man signalled he had a question. "Is the policy mandatory?" he asked.