CINCINNATI — The Kroger Co. will end remote working arrangements for thousands of its local office employees in the new year, providing a boost to downtown restaurants and retail.
The Cincinnati-based grocery chain told employees this week that it will require all corporate associates to work five days a week in the office, starting in January.
“As we’ve sought to simplify our ways of working and strengthen our support for our store teams, we see that in-person collaboration helps us move faster, problem solve more quickly, and better align on our priorities,” said Tim Massa, a Kroger executive vice president in charge of human resources. “With our stores, manufacturing plants and distribution centers operating around the clock to serve our customers, we are updating the in-office expectations for our store support center associates who support them.”
Kroger’s announcement is “a shot in the arm for small businesses,” said Joe Rudemiller, spokesman for the Cincinnati Center City Development Corp., or 3CDC, which promotes economic development in downtown and Over-the-Rhine.
“The folks that are down here are not only providing an extra layer of safety, because there are more people on the street. But they’re also going out and getting lunch and dinner and maybe staying downtown and having a happy hour,” Rudemiller said. “We’re always excited to see more people coming back into the office.”
The growth of remote working arrangements had a huge impact on downtown, as office building owners scrambled to retain shrinking tenants and many buildings were converted to hotel and residential uses.
And the trend is far from finished.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates 35.4 million people still work from home all or part of the time, as of September 2025. That’s 22.3% of the total U.S. workforce.
The executive search firm Robert Half said this month that 88% of employers still offer hybrid work options, and 12% of new job postings in the third quarter of this year were fully remote.
Rudemiller said a 2024 study by 3CDC showed downtown Cincinnati has recovered about 80% of the foot traffic it lost when many of downtown’s largest employers allowed people to work from home during the pandemic.
“It feels like there are more people down here,” Rudemiller said. “I think Mondays and Fridays are still the tougher times. I think Tuesday and Thursday really have a feel like they used to, prior to COVID and the remote work.”
Kroger began ordering workers back to the office in 2023, when it told employees they were expected to be in their assigned offices “a least three or four days a week.”
A financial analyst for the United Food and Commercial Workers Union said Kroger may be shifting to a full-time mandate because of a turbulent job market.
“There’s a lot of economic uncertainty right now. People are worried about recession, worried about being able to pay their bills,” said John Marshall, capital strategies director for UFCW 3000 in Seattle. “They’re going to be more willing to comply with that mandate because they’re less certain about other job opportunities.”
