After going completely remote during the COVID pandemic and the years following, Kara’s company switched to a hybrid working arrangement in 2023. Employees were required to work from the office three days per week, Tuesdays through Thursdays.
Kara’s employer expected the RTO order would boost productivity and spark creative collaboration while giving employees some of the flexibility to which they had grown accustomed, but Kara has experienced nothing of the sort. After enduring a hectic one-hour commute, she spends most of her in-office days alone in her cubicle, participating in Zoom meetings and group chats while focusing on her independent work.
For Kara, hybrid work is simply a waste of time. She has her eye out for a new job she can do entirely from home.
Kara’s colleague Spencer, however, welcomed the call back to the office. He thrives on spontaneous brainstorming and sees himself on the management track; one-on-one networking and mentoring are crucial for advancing his career.
But Spencer has also been disappointed by the hybrid model. Three days do not afford the face time he needs. Besides, it always seems like leadership is on their own schedule, choosing to stay home while rank-and-file employees dutifully show up.
Spencer is also looking for a new employer.
Related: The Benefits of Offering Flexibility in the Workplace: A Wellness Perspective. Read it here →
We often associate the word “hybrid” with a happy medium, the best of both worlds. But as these two very different experiences demonstrate, the hybrid workplace as it is currently conceived often fails to satisfy anyone.
Can hybrid work…work?
As I’ll demonstrate in this article, absolutely. But we can’t get locked into a single definition of the hybrid schedule. The spirit of hybrid is adaptability. The right combination of remote and in-person work for one employee may not be suitable for another.
The most effective and desirable hybrid workplaces in 2025 will be those that enable employees to set their own patterns based on their personal needs, the needs of their team, and their professional goals.
Hybrid vs. Remote vs. On-site: Where Are We Working in 2025?
One thing is clear: The COVID pandemic changed the workplace forever. The fully on-site workplace model will never be the norm again.
According to Gallup, which has continuously monitored workplace trends since the pandemic:
“In 2019, 60% of remote-capable employees spent their week working fully on-site, whereas that figure has fallen to just 20% in 2023. In contrast, only 8% worked exclusively remotely in 2019, compared with the 29% of remote-capable employees who are fully remote today. At the same time, hybrid work has increased significantly, en route to becoming the most prevalent work arrangement in most offices.”
As of October 2024, half of all remote-capable employees follow hybrid schedules, 30% are entirely remote, and only 20% have returned to the office full-time, Gallup reports. While 2024 might be considered the year of RTO, return-to-office hasn’t necessarily meant 9 to 5, Monday through Friday.
In a ResumeBuilder.com survey of 1,000 business leaders, nine in 10 said they would mandate RTO by the end of 2024, but “only 19% defined as five days a week.”
Hybrid work has become and will remain the dominant workplace model mainly because, to put it mildly, employees are crazy about it. Again, according to Gallup:
- Nine in 10 remote-capable employees want at least some remote work flexibility; most prefer hybrid work.
- Three in 10 hybrid workers say they would be extremely likely to leave an employer that stopped offering some remote flexibility; six in 10 fully remote workers say the same.
What Does ‘Hybrid’ Mean in 2024-25?
Far from the flexibility the word suggests, “hybrid” more often than not refers to a rigid employer-mandated schedule.
About half of hybrid employees must come to the office on specific days (most frequently Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday) or for a certain number of days each week, Gallup reports. Only three in 10 have complete autonomy over their hybrid schedules.
Employees Wanted Flexibility. Why Aren’t They Satisfied?
The recent rash of RTO mandates (with more to come in 2025) has been met with significant pushback from employees.
Employees complain that mandatory office days are arbitrary and unnecessary and that they are still stuck either living in expensive housing near their employers or with unpleasant commutes. Many employees point out that most of what they do from the office can be done just as easily from home.
A 2022 global study found a surprising result: Workers say hybrid work is more emotionally draining than fully remote or fully on-site work. Experts say the problem is not the hybrid concept itself but how it is most commonly implemented, which takes control away from employees.
“The lack of control comes in the form of companies claiming to offer flexibility only to then dictate, in many cases, which or how many days or which hours employees must be present,” reports a CNBC writer. An expert interviewed for the article notes, “The arrangement goes wrong when a manager or supervisor is dictating the hybrid schedule.”
How to Do Hybrid Right
The hybrid workplace has many benefits for organizations and their employees. Being able to choose between coming into the office or staying home does offer workers the best of both worlds.
- At home, employees can focus, undistracted by office chatter. They can skip their long commutes and use the extra time to attend to personal matters like childcare and medical appointments.
- At the office, workers can collaborate spontaneously, build interpersonal connections, and gain the face time that is so important for career advancement.
For employers, workplace flexibility helps attract and retain top talent, and it can reduce many of the administrative expenditures related to keeping large offices.
As for its impact on productivity, “Hybrid work seems to be working out just fine,” says a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics study summary. McKinsey summarizes, “Studies conducted by companies and research institutions have so far shown no negative relationship between hybrid work and productivity.”
Nevertheless, hybrid workplaces cannot live up to their potential if they are viewed merely as “WFH lite” or “RTO lite.” To respect employee priorities, ensure the best use of time and resources, and promote a positive, collaborative workplace culture, hybrid work arrangements should be dictated by the work and those doing it — employees and teams.
Writing for Forbes, Jeanne Meister, an expert on the future of work, lays out four principles for successful hybrid working:
1. Purpose
“Rather than focus on which days of the week to return to the office, companies should instead provide employees with clarity on the type of workplace experience that best aligns with their specific job role and career progression,” Meister writes.
For example, new hires may benefit from a nearly full-time RTO schedule where they can build face-to-face bonds with managers and colleagues. Veterans who have their roles down cold may be more efficient working in a distraction-free home setting.
2. Inclusivity
“All workers must operate on a level playing field, regardless of whether they work in-person, fully remote, or hybrid,” says Meister.
Employees should not be denied promotions, assignments, or praise simply because they find working from one location or another more effective. Leaders should make time to meet regularly with remote, hybrid, and on-site employees.
3. Team-Driven Models
“Instead of debating the number of days a week employees should be in the office, companies should examine creative ways to provide leaders the ability to provide their team members with maximum choice in accessing a range of offices for working, learning and collaborating,” writes Meister.
Teams and their leaders know best how the work needs to get done. Companies should trust their people to make the most effective use of their time and locations.
4. Development
All employees should be able to improve their skills and pursue internal opportunities regardless of where they work. Meister suggests using technology to “democratize access to growth opportunities for all employees, not just for those who regularly come to the office.”
In 2025 and Beyond: ‘Hybrid’ Means Truly Hybrid
On-site work is great. Remote work is terrific. Hybrid may be better than both. Why? Not because hybrid work is a middle ground between the two but because it offers the advantages of both.
In other words, when done right, hybrid work expands rather than limits the workflows, resources, and environments available to employees and teams. It empowers employees to balance work-life demands as they see fit and acknowledges that each worker has their own path to productivity.
Under a genuinely hybrid arrangement, some employees may spend nearly 100% of their time working remotely. Others may do just the opposite and visit the office every day. And some may indeed choose to follow a three-days-in-two-days-out schedule.
This may seem unsettling at first, even chaotic, but ultimately, the hybrid work revolution will usher in an era of greater workplace satisfaction and engagement than ever before.