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Business News/ Opinion / Columns/  We learnt in 2022 that hybrid work is here to stay for certain
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We learnt in 2022 that hybrid work is here to stay for certain

Workers aren’t anti-social or quietly quitting but optimizing time

US cities with the longest commutes have had the lowest office return rates Premium
US cities with the longest commutes have had the lowest office return rates

This was supposed to be the year of returning to offices. The same could be said for 2021. The office seems to have become a place where we’re always returning but never arriving. Although office occupancy rates have risen , they are still nowhere near pre-pandemic norms in most of the US. In most big cities, offices are still empty more than half the time. So, what have we learnt about hybrid work over the past 12 months?

Hybrid work is the norm. The idea of a tug-of-war between managers and workers over attending office has been exaggerated. Polls shows that employees do value some degree of face time and want to be in the office roughly two days a week. Managers prefer three. “Overwhelmingly, managers are pretty much aligned with employees," Stanford’s Nicholas Bloom says. The exceptions are people who have “30-plus years of work experience and have been successful and have done that all in person… but they are real outliers." Instead, most bosses are becoming comfortable with managing and evaluating employees they don’t see every day—and not with creepy surveillance tools. As evidence, Bloom points to data he said surprised him: that after resisting giving employees Mondays and Fridays at home in 2021, in 2022 managers seemed to become more comfortable with an in-office schedule that allows for remote work on four or more contiguous days.

One-size-fits-all doesn’t work. Looking for ‘best practices’ is tempting, but what strikes me about the last 12 months is the experimentation that took place. Some teams (and employees) are going to benefit from being together more often. Others will thrive with more autonomy. “It’s more difficult to make blanket statements now than it was even a year ago," says Barbara Larson, a professor of management at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern University. The reality is that every team and every employee is going to be in a slightly different situation. Someone who works primarily with clients in other cities or countries is essentially a fully remote employee. A person without a lot of experience may need more in-person mentoring. Remote work has been a boon for people with disabilities and home contingencies.

With such diversity of experiences, no one can claim to have a single answer.

Bosses have only so much power. In the companies that do truly want workers back in person more often, managers have tried insisting they return to the office; they’ve tried luring them back with perks; they’ve begged. Despite this, hybrid seems here to stay. Perhaps that comes as a surprise to powerful people who are used to having their orders followed. But what managers request doesn’t always get followed; think of the struggle any big change initiative faces.

Smart managers find ways to channel the tides of change instead of trying to turn them back. Consider Citigroup Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser’s offer to let employees work remotely the last two weeks of the year. How humane! And how politically savvy, because in our new hybrid reality, many workers probably would have done so—without permission—anyway.

Long commutes are the chief obstacle to in-person work. The biggest reason so many workers are still staying home isn’t because they are anti-social, or quietly quitting, or want to wear sweatpants. It’s because the commute gobbles up valuable hours of the day and the internet has left it redundant. That’s why return-to-office rates are lower in cities with the longest commutes.

Hybrid is more than a schedule. Some companies have developed an attendance mentality. This energy is better deployed in finding ways to make in-office time feel worth the commute. In a hybrid workplace, the centre of gravity isn’t necessarily the office. It’s work platforms. And in a truly hybrid workplace, heads-down work happens at home, with the office reserved for tasks that require interaction. At companies still struggling to make this transition, Larson says, leaders should stop coming in five days a week. “C-suite people hate it when I say this," she admits. But by showing up every day, they falsely signal that hybrid work isn’t compatible with a senior role.

Finally, hybrid is about more than just showing up. Driving to work only to send emails or attend Zoom meets is annoying . We could all maximize our in-person time, whether that’s mentoring or just making small talk. Those social bonds are part of what make work more than just a grind.

We have learnt a lot this year, but firms are still working out what works best for them. Some friction is inevitable along the way. Consider that 70% of workers want to choose the specific days they work from home, but about 75% say that when they do come into work, they would like their colleagues to be there. Workers can’t have it both ways. Perhaps in 2023, we’ll finally figure that one out. 

Sarah Green Carmichael is a Bloomberg Opinion editor.

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Published: 25 Dec 2022, 10:48 PM IST
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