● PLAYBOOK // VOL. 25 // SEQ. 01 // SD. 021 // 3 MIN READ

Back to Work Spells Opportunity For Tech Savvy Entrepreneurs in 2025

NiKole "Technikole" Maxwell

Chief Innovation & Implementation Strategist

The Hidden Goldmine of Return-to-Office Mandates: Who’s Filling the Gap?

In the scramble back to cubicles and conference rooms, companies might think they’re reclaiming productivity—but they’re also creating a vacuum. The same professionals who once juggled a 9-to-5, four side hustles, a consulting gig, and a dog with separation anxiety are now physically tethered to the office from 9 to 5. What does that mean for you?

Opportunity. Big opportunity.

The return-to-office (RTO) wave is quietly fueling an undercurrent of demand—new work, new roles, and new ways to serve the very people who once moonlighted as fill in the-x-jobs, freelancers, Uber drivers, Etsy store owners, and virtual assistants after their Zoom-filled day jobs - and ita not not just gig work,

Trade secrets incoming:

1. The Moonlighting Exodus

Okay, it’s time to tell a secret during peak remote work, many people weren’t just doing one job. They were doing all the jobs. In-between meetings, on lunch breaks, in the “I’m still online” hours, they built businesses, ran deliveries, learned new skills, and yes, took on multiple W-2s or 1099s across sectors. You might call it unethical. Or you might call it a leg up for those who were able to set up and pull it off successfully.

Now, with swipe-ins and badge checks back in place, that energy? That time? That hustle? It’s been put back in the jar and strapped down to HQ for least 8 to 12 hours a day [this includes traditional work time plus travel both ways].

2. The Rise of Lifestyle Labor

Enter the new workforce: people who now take on the responsibilities once handled by the remote worker themselves. Think about the things they’re leaving behind and fill the gap. Need someone to:

• Walk your dog at noon?

• Pick your kid up from coding camp?

• Wait for the plumber between 9am–4pm?

• Grocery shop during work hours?

• Be a virtual assistant for your new side hustle you no longer have time to run?

Boom. There’s a service (and a business opportunity) for that.

The demand for part-time, hyperlocal, flexible labor has skyrocketed. Parents are hiring shuttlers, retirees are running errands, students are managing inboxes. It’s the “personal logistics economy” and it’s on the rise.

3. From Employee to Employer (By Necessity)

Those who used to moonlight are now becoming clients. They’re buying back time they used to own. That shift in buyer behavior is huge. And for entrepreneurs, it’s a potential goldmine. For those still working remotely or independently, it’s a chance to scoop up income streams that are newly available again.

RTO mandates didn’t just bring people back to desks—they birthed a new layer of economic demand.

Final Word: Follow the Gaps

As policies change, needs shift. Where there’s a shift, there’s money. The people who will win in this next wave aren’t the ones clinging to the old side hustle playbook. They’re the ones building support systems around the new office-bound class.

Remote work wasn’t just a productivity experiment—it was a decentralization of who did what, when. Now that structure is shifting again.

The question is: What gap are you filling next?