Fewer Philadelphians are working remotely now. These workers don’t want to give it up.

Since graduating college in 2021, Emily O’Brien, 25, has never had a job that requires her to be in an office Monday through Friday.

A fully remote employee, she works out of her apartment in Logan Square in Philadelphia for a Boston-based communications agency, PAN.

“I can’t see myself working in a fully in-person job ever,” said O’Brien, noting that being a remote worker is core to her professional identity. It has allowed her to seek opportunities beyond the region.

Philadelphia’s remote workforce is shrinking from a pandemic-era peak, but some in the area are still working remotely for companies based outside the region. Local firms are also keeping remote work options available for their employees.

While the positions can come with some drawbacks, some say they aren’t ready to fully let go of the flexibility remote work affords them. These dedicated teleworkers have found substitutes for in-office interaction, determined to make their arrangements sustainable.

“I’m the CEO of my calendar and where I’m working,” said O’Brien.

Philadelphia’s shrinking remote workforce reflects recent moves by large employers to bring people back into offices more. Mayor Cherelle L. Parker this summer required city employees to begin reporting to the office five days a week. Comcast, Independence Blue Cross, and SEPTA have updated their policies post-pandemic, cutting back on remote work.

Remote workers represented roughly 24% of the workforce in Philadelphia in 2021. That was down to about 16% last year, according to the U.S Census American Community Survey.

The same trend is unfolding nationally. Amazon announced in September that it was ending its remote work policy. UPS, Boeing, and JPMorgan Chase have also required some employees to return to fully in-person work.

But as some major employers push in-person work as an imperative, some workers see remote flexibility as a nonnegotiable necessity.

Working remotely has allowed Melissa Marie Miller, 26, who works in software sales, to stay employed during a geographic relocation for her husband’s career. When she was applying to jobs after college and he was planning a move for his medical residency, the remote option provided a seamless way to move with a stable income and job she liked.

“I really did not want to get an office job where I would [work] for six months and then have to leave. I didn’t feel like that was fair to the company, to any company that I was going to be applying to,” said Miller, who lives in Old City and works remotely for a Wisconsin-based company. She goes to her company’s headquarters for companywide meetings about twice a year.

She also wanted the flexibility to travel. She can attend events like bridal and baby showers more easily as a remote worker.

“I don’t think I would consider going hybrid, unless my job depended on it,” Miller said.

Jennifer Beals, 40, a data analyst at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, would prefer to never be fully in-person again. The Port Richmond resident mostly works remotely but is expected to come in for meetings or events once or twice a month.

On a recent Monday in October, she took time in the middle of the day to pick up her car from the mechanic. On a typical day, she can tackle a few chores during lunchtime, and if she needs to step out for a doctor’s appointment, it’s no problem with her employer as long as she’s available for meetings and makes up the time later.

“It makes my evenings feel a little more relaxed,” said Beals.

While Beals appreciates the time and money she saves by not commuting, she wouldn’t mind a more established hybrid schedule, being in-person one or two days a week. Working remotely can feel “a little more socially isolating,” she notes.

Although she has a work space she could commute to more, she said, colleagues from her team usually are not there.

“If I went, I’d just be sitting by myself at a different desk,” she said.

She’s not alone in that feeling. A study recently featured in the Harvard Business Review found that fully remote employees report being lonelier than those working in a hybrid or fully in-person capacity — although, the authors wrote, to “villainize remote work as the culprit for loneliness is to miss the nuances of the problem.”

Many remote employees in Philadelphia are finding ways to keep up active social lives, even organizing their own meetups and groups.

Shortly after moving back to the Philadelphia area in 2021, Beals started attending social hangouts with a group of remote and hybrid workers. She has since formed friendships from the group.

Philly Girls Who Walk, a group with over 20,000 followers on Instagram, was also born when founder Bianca Solari noticed remote work was cutting into her daily step count. The first meetup, in 2022, attracted roughly 150 people. The group now has a regular schedule of events.

“Because a lot of people work remote, the need for connection, the need for movement, is there,” said Solari. She is currently on the job hunt and wouldn’t rule out an in-person role, but would like a remote or hybrid position.

Coworker interaction for remote workers doesn’t have to be fully virtual.

Valerie Fox, of Fishtown, works at a higher education advisory services firm based in Washington, D.C., and sees her colleagues every four to six weeks at conferences and events. These multiday interactions, she says, provide greater connection than she’s had in the past working in-person, where coworkers rushed to their cars at the end of the day.

“We have dinners together, work sessions together, and then, we’ve got time to get to know each other. I think it makes for a richer kind of conversation,” she said.

No more office means no more casual in-person conversations.

Ashley Waters, 38, who works at PAN with O’Brien, said colleagues instead schedule 30-minute meetings for conversations that wouldn’t require so much time in-person.

“All of a sudden you have no more open time left in your day for the deep-thinking work,” says Waters, of Jenkintown.

She’s come up with a simple solution: blocking time on her calendar to get that work done.

Chatting informally with colleagues over coffee can be helpful, said Beals, of CHOP.

“Somebody might say, ‘Oh, I’m having trouble with that too,’ or ‘I solved that, I can help you,’” said Beals.

But for Waters, who has two young children, remote work fits best with her life right now. It might not always be that way. Five years ago, she liked being fully in the office, and in two or three years, she would probably love to be hybrid, she says.

“The best thing a company can do is basically give the flexibility for someone to choose what’s the best fit for them, because that fit is going to change based on where they are in their own personal life,” she said.