Bosses are calling workers back to the office. That’s good news for landlords.

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. America’s historic retreat from the office building may finally be winding down. More companies are backing away from the looser workplace policies they adopted during the early years of the pandemic as executives increasingly recommit to promoting an office culture.

Amazon called corporate staffers back to the office five days a week last month. The company is now looking for a big block of expansion space in Manhattan, according to brokers. Dell Technologies said it is requiring its global sales team to work from company offices full time.

3M’s new chief executive last week said the company expected higher attendance from senior employees at the company’s headquarters and other large sites. One-third of all companies required workers to be in the office five days a week in the third quarter, up from 31% in the second quarter, according to Flex Index, which tracks workplace strategies. That terminated a streak over the previous five quarters when that rate had steadily fallen.

One reason for that decline was because low unemployment gave employees leverage when pressing for more remote work. Now, the white-collar workforce isn’t growing as much, shifting the balance of power back to managers. No one sees workplaces returning to prepandemic patterns, but most believe the worst is likely over for the office sector.

“We looked like we were on a path that we were going to see a drop continue quarter after quarter," said Rob Sadow, chief executive of Flex Index. “All of a sudden in the third quarter we saw a shift in direction." These signs of stabilization hardly signal an end to office-market turmoil. The vacancy rate is stabilizing at a near record level of 13.8%, up from 9.4% in the