Hybrid models of working are on the rise in the United States according to survey data covering worker habits between 2019 and 2024. In the second quarter of 2024, ** percent of U.S. workers reported working in a hybrid manner. The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic saw a record number of people working remotely to help curb the spread of the virus. Since then, many workers have found a new shape to their home and working lives, finding that a hybrid model of working is more flexible than always being required to work on-site.

Office workers across all generations largely preferred a hybrid working model, according to the findings of a survey conducted across 28,000 full-time employees across 27 markets worldwide in 2022. Baby boomers were slightly more in favor of working from the office full time, but still, only about 11 percent of the respondents chose this option, compared to 68.3 that favored hybrid work and 20.5 that favored fully remote work. The youngest generation, Gen Z, was the least likely to prefer working from the office.

In 2023, improved work-life balance was the greatest benefit to hybrid work according to a staggering 75 percent of employees in the United States. Moreover, less burnout or fatigue at work was the greatest benefit to 61 percent of respondents. Other important benefits included more time efficiency, freedom to choose when or where to work, and higher productivity.

In 2021, 73 percent of employees from a global survey want flexible remote work options to stay post-pandemic. As businesses around the world sent their employees into home office and remote work setups during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, both employees and employers have become accustomed to this new work situation. As a result, they appreciate the positive aspects and would like to retain them in the future.

In June 2025, approximately 13 percent of workers in Great Britain worked from home exclusively, with a further 26 percent working from home and travelling to work, while 44 percent only travelled to work. During this time period, the share of people only travelling to work was highest in March 2022, at 60 percent of respondents, with the peak for only working from home occurring in June 2020. In general, hybrid working has become steadily more popular than fully remote working, with the highest share of people hybrid working in November 2023, when 31 percent of people advising they were hybrid working. What type of workers are most likely to work from home? In 2020, over half of people working in the agriculture sector mainly worked from home, which was the highest share among UK industry sectors at that time. While this industry was one of the most accessible for mainly working at home, just 6 percent of workers in the accommodation and food services sector mainly did this, the lowest of any sector. In the same year, men were slightly more likely to mainly work from home than women, while the most common age group for mainly working from home was those aged 75 and over, at 45.4 percent. Over a long-term period, the share of people primarily home working has grown from 11.1 percent in 1998, to approximately 17.4 percent in 2020. Growth of Flexible working in the UK According to a survey conducted in 2023, working from home either on a regular, or ad-hoc basis was the most common type of flexible working arrangement offered by organizations in the UK, at 62 percent of respondents. Other popular flexible working arrangements include the ability to work flexible hours, work part-time, or take career breaks. Since 2013, for example, the number of employees in the UK that can work flextime has increased from 3.2 million, to around 4.2 million by 2024. When asked why flexible work was important to them, most UK workers said that it supported a better work-life balance, with 41 percent expressing that it made their commute to work more manageable.

Following a hybrid work model was most effective in Australia, according to a survey among full-time flex work office employees in eight different countries worldwide in 2021. Under a hybrid work model, employees are allowed flexibility when choosing from where to work - the office, from home or from a different location. According to ** percent of Australian respondents, their team was working effectively in the current set-up. Meanwhile, in Japan, those figures were the lowest at ** percent.

In 2023, nearly one in three employees in the United States reported that less access to work resources and equipment was their greatest challenge to working in a hybrid model. A similar share of 28 percent of U.S.-based employees also stated that they felt less connected to their organization's culture due to hybrid work.

With 56 percent, most respondents state they have been working remotely for less than a year. This is the case as many employees around the world had been pushed out of the office and into their home for work due to COVID-19. As a result of these circumstances, many of these employees identify as remote workers now.

In 2022, the highest percentage of respondents who preferred hybrid work environments were from Taiwan. By contrast, ** percent of employees from the Netherlands favored working from the office, while nearly ** percent of respondents from Canada wanted to work fully remote.

Not being able to see signs employees are demotivated was the major concern of company leadership when it came to hybrid work in 2023, with more than ** percent of survey respondents reporting the same. Similarly, enabling effective collaboration, and concerns regarding maintaining an organizational culture were among the top concerns of organizations' leadership regarding hybrid work

In 2021, 42 percent of workers indicate thriving in regard to hybrid work. This highlights that almost half of the global workforce experience a positive mindset toward the future of work. Notably, 31 percent of respondents experience feeling disgruntled in this context.

The trend of working remotely has been slowly increasing globally since 2015, with a *** to ***** percent annual increase rate. However, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 upended the world economy and global markets. Employment trends were no exception to this, with the share of employees working remotely increasing to some ** percent in 2022 from just ** percent two years prior. The industry with the highest share of remote workers globally in 2023 was by far the technology sector, with over ** percent of tech employees worldwide working fully or mostly remotely. How are employers dealing with remote work? Many employers around the world have already adopted some remote work policies. According to IT industry leaders, reasons for remote work adoption ranged from a desire to broaden a company’s talent pool, increase productivity, and reduce costs from office equipment or real estate investments. Nonetheless, employers worldwide grappled with various concerns related to hybrid work. Among tech leaders, leading concerns included enabling effective collaboration and preserving organizational culture in hybrid work environments. Consequently, it’s unsurprising that maintaining organizational culture, fostering collaboration, and real estate investments emerged as key drivers for return-to-office mandates globally. However, these efforts were not without challenges. Notably, ** percent of employers faced employee resistance to returning to the office, prompting a review of their remote work policies.

In 2021, 16 percent of respondents from a global survey who are Gen Z experience issues contributing verbally during conference calls. Overall, the Boomer generation states experiencing least issues at work, which is likely due to their advanced careers and experience. Therefore, new work setups are not as disruptive to them as to people from younger generations who have just started their careers. Further, younger generations at the onset of their careers are more likely to experience hardship overall, as they are onboarded remotely and do not receive the in-person training and networking they would have gotten in a normal year.

Before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 17 percent of U.S. employees worked from home 5 days or more per week, a share that increased to 44 percent during the pandemic. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the remote working trend, as quarantines and lockdowns made commuting and working in an office close to impossible for millions around the world. Remote work, also called telework or working from home (WFH), provided a solution, with employees performing their roles away from the office supported by specialized technology, eliminating the commute to an office to remain connected with colleagues and clients. What enables working from home?

To enable remote work, employees rely on a remote work arrangements that enable hybrid work and make it safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. Technology supporting remote work including laptops saw a surge in demand, video conferencing companies such as Zoom jumped in value, and employers had to consider new communication techniques and resources. Is remote work the future of work?

The response to COVID-19 has demonstrated that hybrid work models are not necessarily an impediment to productivity. For this reason, there is a general consensus that different remote work models will persist post-COVID-19. Many employers see benefits to flexible working arrangements, including positive results on employee wellness surveys, and potentially reducing office space. Many employees also plan on working from home more often, with 25 percent of respondents to a recent survey expecting remote work as a benefit of employment. As a result, it is of utmost importance to acknowledge any issues that may arise in this context to empower a hybrid workforce and ensure a smooth transition to more flexible work models.

More than ** percent of people surveyed in China expected being able to work remotely or in a hybrid setup in 2023, according to a survey conducted in August of the previous year. A similar percentage of people in India said the same. By contrast, the share of respondents agreeing with that statement in the listed European countries was only a little over ** percent.

One of the many impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is that office workers have become more flexible when choosing where to work from. Whether employees work from home or from another location, spending less **** in the office has led to a lower occupancy of offices and has made the practice of desk sharing more common. According to the forecast, the demand for office space in the leading European office markets will fall by **** to ** percent until 2026. Berlin, Stockholm, Munich, Luxembourg, and Copenhagen are the cities that are likely to be most resilient to this trend, while Bucharest is forecast to experience the largest fall in demand. According to the source, some of the factors that offset the drop in demand due to remote work are the growth of office-based employment and the increase in demand for collaborative space.

Overall, both female and male employees preferred hybrid work environments in 2022. Only 22.3 percent men and 21.1 percent women favored going to the office.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, office jobs have adjusted to more flexible working models. Working from home has turned into the norm for many, but office spaces remain popular. A hybrid working mode allows employees to divide their work time between the office, home, and other locations. According to a survey among 1,000 office employees and 1,000 C-suite employees conducted in the United States in 2021, the vast majority of respondents are in favor of the hybrid model. Approximately 65 percent of office employees shared that they wanted their employer to allow them to split their time between corporate offices and remote working. Meanwhile, even a higher percentage (79 percent) of C-suite employees planned to introduce the hybrid model. The same survey found that almost half of respondents would ideally spend two to four days in the office.

In 2022, around ** percent of respondents stated that their biggest struggle when working remotely was staying at home too often because there they don't have reason to leave. Moreover many people who work from home do not necessarily have a designated workspace, they experience a conflation between their living area and workplace. Most notably, around ** percent of respondents reported loneliness as their biggest struggle with working remotely. As a result, remotely working employees emphasize the importance of finding strategies to balance their private lives with their professional routines. On the other hand, employees also state having less difficulties with collaboration and communication in 2021. This is likely due to the quick cultivation of skills during the 2020 pandemic that allow them to effectively communicate and collaborate with others when working from different locations. Challenges inherent in new work set-ups As employees work from different locations, companies are confronted with the urgency to ease some of the challenges inherent in novel hybrid work solutions. Strategies developed to support remote work include training for employees or expanding information technology infrastructure to ensure that employees can collaborate efficiently from different locations. The future of work Certainly, it is important to take the challenges experienced by employees seriously as the current telework trend is likely to continue and become a common way of working in the future. Addressing challenges head-on in the present will ensure better working conditions in the future.

In 2023, the highest percentage of people working in organizations implemented a hybrid model worked remotely two or three days a week.