Top hybrid work trend stats from companies in the UK for 2023

Three years have handed for the reason that WHO declared the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, and while in some components of the world, the worst appears to be behind us, the pandemic’s affect has lingered on in our day by day life, particularly within the work world.

For instance, quite a lot of folks and companies tried out distant work for the primary time throughout COVID-19. Whereas some have since returned to the workplace full-time over the previous 12 months as we’ve entered the “new regular”, hybrid, versatile, and asynchronous work proceed to be widespread in a post-pandemic world.

With the assistance of market analysis company OnePoll, we carried out a survey of 1000 UK workplace employees and information employees from a spread of ranges and industries to convey you a number of key insights on present hybrid office tendencies and the way forward for work.

Learn on to study extra!

Key hybrid work statistics and hybrid work tendencies for 2023

• Simply 30% of UK corporations are working totally on-site as we speak, versus 57% earlier than the pandemic.
• Over 40% of survey respondents declare that their corporations have shifted to a hybrid mannequin for the reason that world pandemic.
• There was an nearly 10% improve in corporations choosing versatile work preparations since earlier than the pandemic.
• Totally-remote work stays pretty unusual however has doubled in recognition, leaping from 4% in a pre-pandemic world to 8% now.

Workers love the liberty and suppleness of the hybrid work mannequin, nevertheless it’s not with out its issues

Hybrid work has turn into an growing pattern within the UK, and its recognition has remained regular for the reason that pandemic. Generally, present methods of working are assembly worker expectations, with almost 80% of workers reporting they’re glad with the present mannequin in place at their firm.

However opinions on hybrid work are complicated—whereas some workers benefit from the freedom, others wrestle with the isolation of working from dwelling. Survey respondents stated their favorite perks of hybrid work had been: 

• Much less time spent commuting (46%)
• Higher work-life steadiness (43%)
• Elevated productiveness (34%)

Then again, they felt that hybrid work’s essential drawbacks had been: 

• Feeling disconnected from their crew (23%)
• Not sufficient head to head interplay (21%)
• Having too many distractions at dwelling (18%)

Undoubtedly, the power to work remotely for a part of the time has its perks. The common commute time within the UK is about half an hour, based on Transport Statistics Nice Britain (TSGB), so many UK residents can save an hour or extra per day with dwelling working (and likewise take pleasure in some price financial savings on gasoline.)

This leaves workers with extra time to spend with their households, and will increase the quantity they will get executed through the workday—therefore the opposite two advantages talked about above (higher work-life steadiness and elevated productiveness.)

Nonetheless, there are additionally some downsides to distant and hybrid work. Not everybody has entry to a properly-equipped, personal dwelling workplace area or work location. However a cushty and distraction-free workspace is essential for psychological and bodily wellness, and avoiding burnout.

As well as, it could be tough for workers to really feel that they’re able to talk simply or that their concepts are being heard whereas working remotely. In-person meetups are essential for firm tradition, for the reason that head to head interplay can stimulate creativity and promote psychological well being. Whereas video conferencing (like Zoom or Microsoft Groups) is a handy strategy to talk, it might probably’t totally exchange in-person interplay.

The workplace is right here to remain, with a majority of corporations setting a selected variety of on-site days

There are a lot of variations on a hybrid work schedule, with some corporations leaning extra in direction of distant and others leaning extra in direction of in-person workplace work. Whereas corporations don’t at all times require their hybrid workers to spend a selected variety of days within the workplace, the overwhelming majority (69%) do.

UK corporations are typically versatile on the quantity of in-office days they require, with most (59%) requiring three days or fewer of weekly workplace attendance. Of the survey respondents who stated their employer required a certain quantity of workplace attendance:

• 22% had been required to enter the workplace at the very least 3 times per week
• 24% had been requested to go in twice per week
• 13% had been solely required to go in as soon as per week

Workers have combined emotions concerning the variety of days they’re required to enter the workplace. Though 42% say they wouldn’t change something about their present working preparations, 30% say they might ideally desire extra flexibility, and 23% say they would like to go to the workplace much less.

As well as, many UK workers discover their employer’s distant working insurance policies unclear. Almost 28% of workers are not sure whether or not their corporations are monitoring workplace attendance or not. An extra 25% are not sure whether or not they’re permitted to work remotely from overseas or not.

Bettering communication with hybrid workers—and ensuring expectations round distant work and workplace work are clear—could contribute to bettering UK workers’ perceptions of their hybrid work schedules.

Assembly colleagues in individual is a vital a part of working life

Nearly all of survey respondents felt there have been many advantages to assembly colleagues in individual. 58% stated the primary advantage of in-person collaboration was creating a way of belonging inside the crew, whereas 43% stated they consider it boosts productiveness and creativity.

Different vital advantages cited had been that folks work higher when assembly in individual (34%), and that it fosters firm tradition (32%). Solely 19% claimed they thought assembly in individual wasn’t vital in any respect. 

Since many members thought assembly in individual was essential for creating a way of belonging and staying inventive, it’s not shocking that they used their time within the workplace to have 1:1 conferences with their groups or managers (33%), and meet new crew members (30%). Different widespread in-office actions had been brainstorming and technique periods (22%), and social occasions (20%).

Constructing camaraderie and staying related with different crew members is clearly a really excessive precedence for UK professionals. Not solely did survey respondents spotlight this as certainly one of their best issues about hybrid work, in addition they discovered it to be one of many best advantages of in-person working. 

Whereas workers spend a number of time connecting with their colleagues within the workplace, they will additionally achieve this by means of firm offsites and crew constructing occasions. For distributed hybrid and distant groups, a lot of these occasions could require some journey. Nonetheless, they supply a vital alternative to see others in individual, take pleasure in a singular social {and professional} expertise, and get a few of that head to head interplay that hybrid employees and distant workers crave. 

Generally, crew constructing has been proven to have an vital affect on firm tradition, the worker expertise, and office well-being, making a optimistic work atmosphere and driving enterprise efficiency. In truth, as much as 55% of worker engagement is pushed by this kind of non-financial recognition, based on McKinsey. And knowledge from Gallup present that highly-engaged enterprise items take pleasure in decrease absenteeism and better worker productiveness. 

Social occasions and crew constructing occasions also can kind an vital a part of an organization’s folks and tradition provide, serving to them construct their employer model and appeal to high expertise. 

Though UK workers consider within the worth of in-person interplay, many corporations don’t empower them to get collectively frequently

Sadly, not all employees have the possibility to profit from in-person occasions and get-togethers with their crew. In our survey, almost 1 / 4 of hybrid groups and over half of distant groups stated they by no means received collectively for in-person crew constructing or social actions. 

Nonetheless, hybrid groups usually tend to maintain these gatherings than distant groups, and so they additionally have a tendency to carry them extra incessantly. 19% of hybrid groups meet for such actions as soon as a month, versus simply 6% of distant groups. Most distant groups meet solely as soon as 1 / 4 (17%) or yearly (19%).

Though many distant and hybrid groups don’t meet up frequently, they nonetheless often meet up for annual occasions with your entire firm. 65% of respondents stated their organisation held these gatherings at the very least yearly, with almost 40% opting to carry them yearly, and 20% assembly 2-3 instances a 12 months. 

The most well-liked sorts of company-wide occasions had been:

• Seasonal events, reminiscent of Christmas, vacation, or summer season events (45%)
• Crew constructing occasions (27%) 
• Conferences, exhibitions, and summits (23%)

Different widespread sorts of firm occasions embrace:

• In-office social occasions, reminiscent of Friday drinks (19%)
• Worker recognition occasions, reminiscent of worker of the month/quarter (17%)
• In-person offsites and retreats (11%)

These occasions are an awesome likelihood to bond, break down silos, and join with workers in different departments. Nonetheless, in contrast to a daily crew assembly they’re extra targeted on large-group actions, reasonably than one-on-one brainstorming and socialising. Each company-wide occasions and smaller crew gatherings are key methods to strengthen skilled relationships.

To drag off any sort of profitable firm occasion, coordinating group journey is crucial—however managing bookings, agendas, and conferences for a number of travellers can get sophisticated fairly shortly. Fortunately, this course of might be made a lot less complicated with the correct journey administration software program. Any such software program may help you save time, keep organised, and profit from company journey reductions when planning journey to an occasion.  

For those who solely need to learn the abstract…

There’s so much to soak up right here! Whether or not you’re a human sources supervisor, a folks and tradition resolution maker, a crew supervisor, or a C-suite enterprise chief attempting to determine 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:

• A major variety of UK corporations have shifted to a hybrid mannequin for the reason that pandemic, and are nonetheless working that method as we speak.
• With hybrid and distant work choices, workers take pleasure in better work-life steadiness and fewer time spent commuting. Nonetheless, they miss interacting with their colleagues head to head, and a few wrestle with a sense of being disconnected from their crew.
• Most hybrid corporations require a sure variety of in-office workdays, usually two or three days per work week. Nonetheless, many workers are unclear about their organisation’s workplace attendance insurance policies.
• Nearly all of survey respondents assume assembly in-person is crucial for fostering a way of belonging inside groups, and so they prioritise going into the workplace to fulfill new teammates.
• Whereas many organisations collect in individual at the very least yearly for company-wide occasions, not all groups get to fulfill their colleagues frequently for smaller occasions—and this is applicable particularly to distant employees.