Three years have handed because the WHO declared the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and while in some components of the world, the worst appears to be behind us, the pandemic’s influence has lingered on in our every day life, particularly within the work world.
For instance, many companies tried out distant work for the primary time throughout COVID-19. While some have since returned to the workplace full-time over the previous 12 months as we’ve entered the “new normal”, hybrid and versatile work proceed to be fashionable in a post-pandemic world.
With the assistance of market analysis company OnePoll, we carried out a survey of 1000 US workplace employees and information employees from a spread of ranges and industries to convey you a number of key insights on present work traits and the state of hybrid work.
Read on to study extra!
Key hybrid work statistics and hybrid work traits for 2023
- Today, 25% of US firms provide workers the chance to earn a living from home half the time. This represents a big leap from simply 15% earlier than the pandemic.
- Before the pandemic, 40% of US firms labored on-site full-time. That determine has dropped barely to 31% right now.
- 62% of firms have returned to the identical working mannequin that they had pre-pandemic.
- 71% of US workers are pleased with the working mannequin getting used of their present job.
The majority of firms returned to the identical working mannequin that they had earlier than, with just a few completely transitioning
The pandemic triggered a sea change in methods of working since many firms have been compelled to modify to a fully-remote mannequin throughout lockdowns. This led to widespread technological funding and experimentation with new kinds of office communications.
At the time, many observers speculated on what the way forward for work could be, questioning whether or not this might result in a everlasting transition to distant work. Our analysis reveals that for probably the most half, this didn’t occur. In reality, 62% of firms have returned to the identical working mannequin that they had pre-pandemic.
However, some firms did resolve to alter the best way they work for good—however most of those opted to go hybrid, not distant. Just 4% of firms shifted to a fully-remote mannequin, whereas 16% of firms moved to a hybrid work mannequin as a substitute, selecting to enter the workplace for a part of the time. These modifications resulted to five% of firms now being totally distant, and 25% having a hybrid mannequin in place.
This reveals that whereas the modifications brought on by the pandemic supplied many new alternatives, for probably the most half, firms felt that one thing was misplaced within the transition to completely distant work.
Employees love the liberty and adaptability of hybrid work, but it surely’s not with out its issues
Hybrid work could also be perceived as a very good compromise answer, because it gives a number of the freedom and adaptability of distant, whereas sustaining the advantages of in-person communication in an workplace surroundings.
But does hybrid work actually work for workers?
The workers we surveyed had quite a lot of opinions on the hybrid office schedule. While some loved the liberty, others struggled with the isolation of working from dwelling. Survey respondents stated their favourite perks of hybrid work have been:
- Less time spent commuting
- The stability between interacting with colleagues and spending time at dwelling
- Positive results on bodily and psychological wellbeing
- Better work-life stability
On the opposite hand, they felt that hybrid work’s fundamental drawbacks have been:
- A damaging influence on psychological well being
- Not as a lot face-to-face interplay with colleagues
- A poor setup or unhealthy gear at dwelling
Interestingly, respondents referred to each “negative mental health” and “positive mental wellbeing”, two seemingly contradictory factors.
Hybrid work can influence folks very otherwise, relying on their particular person personalities and preferences. While the versatile schedule and work-life stability offered by hybrid work can have a constructive influence on psychological well being, it additionally comes with fewer interactions with colleagues and a much less structured routine, which can result in burnout or trigger some workers to wrestle.
Lack of entry to a properly-equipped, personal dwelling workplace house can be an issue for hybrid and distant workers—a snug and ergonomic workspace is essential for psychological and bodily wellness.
Nearly a 3rd of workers are required to enter the workplace not less than thrice every week—and persons are glad about it!
There are many variations on a hybrid work schedule, with some firms leaning extra in the direction of distant and others leaning extra in the direction of in-person workplace work. While firms don’t at all times require their hybrid workers to spend a particular variety of days within the workplace, the bulk (58%) do.
Most of those organizations require extra in-office days than distant days. Of survey respondents who stated their employer required a specific amount of workplace attendance, 32% have been required to enter the workplace not less than thrice every week, with a further 20% being requested to go in 4 instances every week.
The overwhelming majority of workers say they’re roughly happy with the variety of days they’re required to go in. 48% say they wouldn’t change something about their present work association, whereas a further 41% say they’re usually glad, though they would favor extra flexibility.
Clearly, there’s no good approach to do hybrid work and achieve success—numerous schedules may fit nicely for various firms. Regardless of the precise sort of labor schedule chosen, workers take pleasure in having that bit of additional flexibility of their week.
Nearly a 3rd of workers have the flexibleness to work from overseas for a vast variety of days per 12 months
Surprisingly, 33% of workers report that their firm permits them to work remotely from overseas for a vast variety of days per 12 months, with a further 23% saying they are allowed to work from overseas for a set period of time.
This is sudden for a number of causes. First, most firms place a excessive precedence on workplace attendance (as proven above). Second, working from overseas can open up various necessary tax, safety, and authorized implications (to study extra about these, try our weblog put up on international mobility administration.)
However, many firms are nonetheless open to the thought of workers working remotely from a special geographical location. Giving workers the liberty to work whereas touring could be a sexy job perk, serving to firms to construct their employer model and entice prime expertise. In addition, there can be enterprise advantages to letting workers select a brief work location overseas—it could result in enterprise improvement alternatives, or nearer connections with abroad firm places of work.
Easily handle enterprise journey
Meeting colleagues in individual is a vital a part of working life
There’s a purpose why many employers require not less than some workplace attendance, and why many workers take pleasure in going into the workplace—collaborating with different crew members head to head has many advantages, and could be an necessary a part of working life.
When requested for his or her prime the explanation why seeing their colleagues in individual was necessary to them, survey respondents cited:
- Heightened productiveness and creativity (51%)
- A way of belonging inside the crew (49%)
- Improved firm tradition (46%)
In-person collaboration could make it simpler to work on advanced tasks. It can even enhance psychological well-being by encouraging extra social interplay, and foster a way of connectedness with the corporate’s mission.
Most respondents discovered that head to head conferences have been useful for artistic and strategic actions. 34% listed brainstorming classes as their prime precedence when going into the workplace. Others listed their most necessary office-based actions as:
- 1:1 conferences (33%)
- abilities improvement workshops (33%)
- large-group conferences (31%)
On the social finish of issues, individuals additionally valued spending time with new colleagues (29%) and collaborating in social actions (26%).
Over half of respondents working fully-remotely declare they by no means get along with their colleagues for social occasions
Clearly, many workers take pleasure in and profit from in-person conferences. And in fact, the workplace isn’t the one place workers can get collectively in individual—many fully-remote firms additionally maintain offsites and occasions for workers to satisfy up a number of instances per 12 months. However, our knowledge present that over half of distant firms don’t do that.
On the opposite hand, simply 17% of respondents from hybrid firms stated they by no means met with colleagues head to head for some of these occasions. Besides being within the workplace extra typically, hybrid employees additionally take part in crew constructing actions extra continuously than distant employees, with most assembly as soon as a month (25%) or a number of instances a month (23%) for crew constructing.
Team constructing has been proven to have an necessary influence on firm tradition and the worker expertise, making a constructive work surroundings and driving enterprise efficiency. In reality, as much as 55% of worker engagement is pushed by one of these non-financial recognition, based on McKinsey. And knowledge from Gallup present that highly-engaged enterprise models take pleasure in decrease absenteeism and better worker productiveness.
Looking for methods to enhance your organization tradition?
Over 72% of companies run company-wide occasions not less than yearly, if no more
Overall, firm occasions are fairly a well-liked exercise. The majority of organizations select to prepare these occasions not less than as soon as per 12 months. 36% of companies run firm occasions yearly, whereas 28% achieve this 2-3 instances per 12 months, and a further 8% run them 3+ instances a 12 months.
So what sorts of occasions are the most typical? Unsurprisingly, most firms prioritize socializing {and professional} improvement throughout their in-person get-togethers. The most frequently-organized firm occasions embody:
- Seasonal events, equivalent to Christmas, vacation, or summer time events (41%)
- Employee recognition occasions, equivalent to worker of the month/quarter (39%)
- In-office social occasions, equivalent to Friday drinks (37%)
Other fashionable kinds of firm occasions embody:
- Team constructing classes (33%)
- Conferences, exhibitions, and summits (33%)
- In-person offsites and retreats (27%)
Organizing occasions could be difficult for distant and hybrid firms. These companies typically have workers primarily based in several places of work, or working remotely from numerous components of the nation or world.
To pull off a profitable firm occasion, coordinating group journey is crucial—however managing bookings, agendas, and conferences for a number of vacationers can get sophisticated fairly shortly. This course of is made a lot less complicated with the proper journey administration software program.
If you solely wish to learn the abstract…
There’s loads to soak up right here! Whether you’re a human assets supervisor, a folks and tradition determination maker, a crew supervisor, or a C-suite enterprise chief making an attempt to resolve how issues will work at your organization within the subsequent 12 months and past, right here’s a fast overview of the important thing takeaways from our survey:
- Most firms have returned to the best way they have been working earlier than the pandemic, with some switching completely to hybrid, and a few going totally distant.
- Employees take pleasure in larger work-life stability with hybrid and distant work choices, however nonetheless miss interacting with their colleagues head to head.
- Different kinds of hybrid workweek schedules can work for various firms, with most choosing three or 4 workdays within the workplace per week. In common, this setup meets worker expectations; most are happy with the best way their employers are managing their firm’s work tradition.
- Over half of workers are allowed to work from overseas not less than a number of the time, and firms see worth in one of these working association.
- Meeting with colleagues in individual for social and work-related causes has many advantages, and most firms run company-wide occasions not less than yearly. However, hybrid groups usually tend to meet for some of these occasions than distant groups.