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One of the major changes unleashed by the pandemic\u2014and the accompanying spread of remote work\u2014was the large\u00a0migration of employees<\/a>\u00a0from major urban areas. With many jobs no longer anchored to city-based offices, people were free to move to almost anywhere else they preferred to live\u2014often at lower costs to boot. But now, new survey data indicates that exodus has reversed course, with\u00a0grim labor markets<\/a>\u00a0and tightening\u00a0return-to-office<\/a>\u00a0(RTO) mandates causing employment-focused workers to head back to metropolises again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That finding was one of many big changes noted in the\u00a0State of Global Hiring<\/a>\u00a0study by payroll and human resources service company Deel. It said that while the introduction and continuation of pandemic-era flexible work arrangements had allowed countless employees to move to places where they could work remotely, the accelerating trend of businesses tightening RTO rules has now drawn many workers back to big U.S. cities.<\/p>\n \u201cAfter a pandemic-era exodus from major cities, remote workers are gradually\u00a0migrating back<\/a>,\u201d a Deel statement said about the geographic dispersal of employee that reached its peak in 2022. \u201cIn the U.S., workers are now as close to major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and San Francisco as they were in 2021.\u201d<\/p>\n What\u2019s driving that return to the nation\u2019s urban centers? Continued evolution of labor markets is one factor, including the kinds of jobs that are now most abundantly available to workers in today\u2019s tight employment environment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n