Researchers overseas claim to have confirmed what many have long suspected: white-collar workers quit their jobs in higher numbers when told to return to the office.

Academics from American and Chinese universities interrogated the job vacancy data of 54 S&P 500 firms and the employment histories of 3 million tech and finance workers on LinkedIn, and found staff turnover increased by an average of 14 per cent after firms introduced return-to-office (RTO) mandates.