During the COVID-19 lockdowns and quarantines, businesses adopted remote work strategies, allowing employees to work from anywhere they had an internet connection. Once considered a temporary measure, remote work has become an indelible product of the post-pandemic “new normal.”
Rather than return en masse to the office, employers and employees alike have treated remote work as a feature rather than a bug of the modern workplace. Today, 16% of companies are fully remote while 40% use a hybrid model of both onsite and remote work. But will that always be the case?
Hybrid, not onsite work, looks like the future
According to AT&T and Dubber Corporation Limited’s “The State of the Industry: Future of Work” survey, 81% of business leaders believe hybrid work will surpass onsite work as the foremost working model by 2024. That conforms with Gallup’s anticipation that 53% of workplaces will employ a hybrid strategy after 2023.
Considering 59% of workers prefer a hybrid strategy — while 32% want to be fully remote and just 9% want to be fully onsite — it’s safe to say that the vast majority of companies will not return to pre-pandemic working styles. That’s a positive development for employees who would prefer to avoid long, expensive commutes and have the flexibility to take care of children, run errands, and just generally manage their personal lives better.
However, the future diminution of onsite work isn’t all sunshine and roses. AT&T’s study found that 64% of business leaders believe their organization prefers an exclusively onsite work model, while 86% believe employees prefer a hybrid work model.
This tension between employers and employees is yet to be fully tested and understood. 72% of businesses lack a detailed hybrid work strategy and 76% haven’t developed key performance indicators (KPIs) to understand whether or not hybrid models actually work.
It’s important to answer key questions
We’re in the age of employee empowerment but conflicts between employer and employee desires can lead to resentment and confusion. How many days per week should employees be required to come into the office? How available must they be on Slack or email when working remotely? How do employers adjust KPIs for remote workers?
These are the types of questions that you must clearly answer with your employer when looking for a new job. How the office functions is a core consideration of any potential job offer today.
How the office functions is a core consideration of any potential job offer today.
Employees are so impacted by the onsite work question that Gallup found 54% of employees currently working exclusively from home would quit if asked to come onsite full-time. 38% of hybrid workers said the same. You have a choice where you work, and if those numbers are any indication, workers are using their labor to firmly communicate how they want to work.
Will onsite work recover? The numbers indicate probably not. That bodes well for the majority of employees who resoundingly prefer remote or hybrid work. The good news is that employers seem to be catching on, as well. When you’re looking for your next job, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to choose your work model, and that’s a win for everyone.