Four years after the business world began to embrace remote work, companies such as Amazon and Ubisoft are urging employees to return to the office in the name of corporate culture and productivity. While some are imposing a full-time return, most opt for a hybrid setup – which might be a wise choice.
A Unispace survey of 8,000 employees and 2,700 company directors in 13 countries worldwide suggests that the hybrid model, which combines in-office and remote work, is popular with employees and employers alike. Indeed, 93% of employees said they were satisfied with their current hybrid work setup of three days a week in the office. Of their bosses, 96% were even more satisfied.
In most of the countries surveyed, employees and employers appear to be aligned. This is particularly true in India, where 98% of bosses and 97% of employees are happy with their company’s hybrid-work policy. Conversely, only 84% of Swiss bosses and 78% of Singaporean workers are satisfied with the in-office/remote mix. Compared with the global average, this is a lower level of satisfaction.
Some workers are reluctant to adopt hybrid arrangements because they see many constraints involved in working in the office. They complain of not being able to concentrate because of noise or distractions, or of not being able to find a quiet corner where they can recharge between meetings.
The quality of technical and IT equipment – Wi-Fi, computers, printers, etc. – is also often singled out by employees.
Despite this, an overwhelming majority of employees do not believe that going to the office should become a thing of the past. After all, the office facilitates the human aspects of work, even if 64% of employees spend most of their time alone at their workstation when they’re onsite.
Still, this doesn’t mean they want to go in every day, especially for young people. In fact, 18- to 34-year-olds would like to be in the office just 2.7 days a week, compared with 3.4 for the over-55s. “Younger employees crave remote work and wellness spaces, while older employees favour traditional office settings and frequent in-office work,” reads the Unispace report.
The results of this survey show the extent to which hybrid working is becoming the “new normal”. But, as with any transformation, this new setup needs to be discussed and monitored to ensure it suits the needs and specificities of each company, as well as their employees.