When Esther Crawford posted a photo of herself stretched out in a sleeping bag and mask at Twitter’s San Francisco HQ, under the hashtag #SleepWhereYouWork, the image seemed to encapsulate how far the pendulum had swung since Covid-19 sent office workers homeward.Three years ago, employers not only accepted the need for remote working, but rolled out policies to support homeworkers’ wellbeing — from the provision of IT equipment to meditation apps, online yoga classes, and help for staff struggling with stress, bereavement or mental illness.

But Elon Musk, who promoted Crawford shortly after her photo went viral in November, only to make her redundant in the latest round of job cuts last month, is just one of a string of high-profile bosses now taking a tougher line with white-collar workers. The main battleground is the contested terrain of hybrid working.

One of the first actions of Twitter’s new owner was to summon employees back to the office, while telling them to embrace “long hours at high intensity” — or quit. And, as job cuts spread from the tech sector to consultancies, finance and other sectors, employers who previously felt obliged to offer flexibility appear increasingly unwilling to let staff choose where and when they work.