Remote work is here to stay, whether employer⛎s like it or no𝐆t—and, for the most part, they don’t.

Currently, workers in the service industry perform just over 20% of all work hours remotely, whereas employers would prefer to cut that down to 15%, according to a survey of business leaders in New York and parts of surrounding states conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York released Wednesday. Despite their preference to ax remote work, businesses in that region expect to continue that same level of remote work through next year.

The survey provides a snapshot of a conflict that’s playing out across the entire labor market—workers, who got a taste of telecommuting during the pandemic lockdowns, want to keep logging in remotely, whereas employers overwhelmingly want to make them go back to the office. In a labor market where job postings solidly outnumber the unemployed, bosses have had to make compromises on remote 🌌work.

“While the amount of remote work that is occurring will clearly remain elevated relative to before the pandemic, the extent to which remote work continues to persist at the levels seen today will largely depend on the distribution of power between employers and employees,” Jaison R. Abel, head of urban and regional studies at the New York Fed, together with other researchers, wrote in an analysis.

The New York Fed’s research adds to nationwide studies showing similar trends. As of February, 35% of all jobs that could be done remotely were being done by people who worked remote full-time—five times as much as before the pandemic, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center. 

Workers have a strong preference for remote work, according to WFH Research, a project by researchers from the University of Chicago and other academic institutions tracking telecommuting trends since the pandemic. U.S. workers would prefer to work just over half of all days from home, according to a survey the group carried out in April and May.

Employers, on the other hand, want to keep remote workdays to a minimum, with service firms polled by the New York Fed saying they would bring 77% of their workers fully back to the office if they could.

Both sides see some positives and negatives with remote and in-person work, according to surveys. Employers believe offering remote woꦉrk helps recruit and retain employees but hurts team building, communication, and workplace culture. Businesses gave mixed results on remote work productivity, with 30% saying it boosted output, and 40% saying it reduced it.

According to the WFH Research poll, more than half of workers with remote experience during the pandemic said working in the office provided greater collaboration. However, they also cited benefits to working from home, including a lack of a commute, saving money, and having a more flexible schedule.