With the COVID-19 pandemic came a new era of remote work for many 9-to-5 office workers. As we move out of the pandemic, this shift seems to have left a lasting preference for hybrid work.
According to a Morning Consult report issued this month, “workers now have a greater preference for hybrid work than for remote work,” with 29% of 6,625 people polled in January saying they prefer hybrid work, compared to 23% who preferred remote work. That’s a flip from last year, when 27% preferred hybrid and 29% preferred remote.
In a hybrid model, workers spend some time in a physical office and some time from working from home. This allows for employees to work together in person when needed, but also to have the flexibility to work from home.
“Hybrid workers are happier,” said an Axios article citing the Morning Consult data. “Their ‘engagement’ with work increased in 2024 from the previous year, while it fell for those fully in-person or fully at home.”
Axios noted that this preference pertains mostly to white collar workers and that most people (65%) worked in-person. Even though most had to work in person, only 46% said they preferred it.
Last summer, many companies were looking to sunset remote work due to the end of COVID restrictions, including Amazon. Its CEO, Andy Jassy even told remote workers: “It’s probably not going to work out for you.”
A WalletHub study released this week found that between last October and this January, over 21% of workers able to work from home did so for five or more days a week. Hybrid work was much more popular, with over 67% who worked from home at least one day per week. WalletHub said the best locations for remote workers are New Jersey, Utah, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia.
“Working from home can save people a lot of money on transportation expenses, as well as make their work environment a lot more comfortable and their hours more flexible,” explained WalletHub analyst Cassandra Happe. “However, things like energy costs, internet speed, home sizes and how many people live together can greatly impact people’s savings and productivity. While work-from-home jobs can be done anywhere, certain states make the practice much better than others.”
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Another recent report from The Conference Board surveyed chief marketing officers (CMOs) and chief communications officers (CCOs) on how hybrid work is going for their teams. Overall, they said the hybrid experience is a positive one.
“CMOs and CCOs tend to see the best results from their teams with in-office mandates of three to four days per week and with at-will hybrid work (i.e., full autonomy regarding office presence),” The Conference Board said. “”In-office mandates of one to two days per week yield the weakest performance, especially regarding innovation, learning & development, and productivity.”
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