Ever since the world embraced remote working during the pandemic five years ago, there has been an ongoing debate between organisations and their employees- should we make a full-time return to the office or not? As the years progress and remote working becomes further embedded into the modern workplace, strong opinions have been formed from both sides.

Remote working was undeniably a precious lifeline for many during the challenges and uncertainty of the pandemic. But many are now arguing that it was only ever supposed to be a temporary fix. Now that we’re post-pandemic, many company leaders have started pushing for a full transition back to the office, saying goodbye to remote working for good.

Giants such as Google, Amazon and Disney have all already started this process by introducing mandatory office days to their remote working employees, due to a loss of ‘company creativity, culture and collaboration’. A KMPG study also found that 63% of CEOs based in the UK predict a full return to working at the office by 2026, with 87% considering linking office attendance with promotions, bonuses and rewards.

While remote work has demonstrated benefits in terms of productivity on an individual basis, leaders argue that casual face to face interactions that foster innovation and strengthen work relationships are being lost. There’s also concerns that remote working creates an increased reliance on technology, causing overworking and burnout, making it difficult to assess performance and ultimately reduces employees’ access to support.

Employee resistance

Despite these concerns, it appears that employees, who are on the other side of the debate, are still embracing remote and hybrid working with both hands. Findings from our latest Salary, Engagement and Diversity survey found that 63% of our respondents, who work within the IT, change and transformation space, currently work from home at least 3 days per week. Just 4% of them would want to be back in the office full time.

IT professionals in particular want to continue working this way, with over 50% strongly preferring hybrid or remote working. Currently 59% work remotely for 3+ days per week and only 12% would want to spend more than 4+ days in the office. These findings signal that organisations could face resistance from their teams if the option of remote or flexible work was removed entirely.

Greater work-life balance is a popular reason why employees prefer to work remotely, but it’s just one of many. Some employees want to avoid long, stressful commutes and high travel costs, others enjoy the increased autonomy to choose where and when they work to better suit their family commitments or their lifestyle. For those with health conditions or disabilities, the office might not be sufficiently equipped or suited to their needs. There’s also those who just simply favour quietly working from home rather than working in the hustle and bustle of an office.

While there are exceptions, many employees have become so comfortable in this newer style of working that they now don’t want to lose this flexibility and independence, despite what their employers might think.
 

Risk to retention

Remote and flexible work has become so popular that it’s considered a key expectation for many employees. Our report found that amongst both permanent (61%) and contract workers (62%), flexible working has become a top priority when searching for a new role, second only to salary for permanent workers.

If organisations fail to offer remote working as an option, they could notice a negative impact to their retention and turnover as employees leave their roles in search of greater flexibility elsewhere. Research carried out by CIPD has found that this is already happening, with an estimated 4 million UK employees have changed careers due to a lack of flexibility, with an estimated 2 million leaving a role over the past year for similar reasons.

Organisations with dissatisfied employees can expect disloyalty and a lack of engagement and productivity, as well as increased absenteeism and negative work cultures. There’s also the risk of losing their competitive edge when hiring, which could lead to reduced talent pools to find high calibre candidates in and less business growth. Overtime this can result in large skills shortages amongst teams and less inclusive work environments, creating another series of problems for the organisation.

Another thing organisations might want to consider is the legal implications of denying their employees remote working opportunitites. As of April 2024, UK employees now have a legal right to request flexible working options from their employers as part of the Employee Relations (Flexible Working) Act.

This means that from the first day of their job, employees can ask for changes to their location and working hours to better suit their needs. Employers can refuse these requests, but only if there is a valid business reason such as negative impact on performance or quality. Not following this legislation could land organisations in legal troubles, which they naturally will want to avoid.

Is hybrid the answer?

This back and forth between leadership teams and their employees shows little sign of stopping. At this late stage, it will be a significant and costly challenge for organisations to try and eradicate remote working altogether, even if their reasons are justified. However, it appears that a potential solution is actually right under everyone’s noses; hybrid working.

We found that 82% of the happiest permanent workers are currently working in hybrid roles, with 56% of our respondents saying it’s their preferred way to work. Hybrid working is also becoming popular amongst contractors; however many would prefer to stay fully remote.

It aligns with the face-to-face communication and collaboration that organisations are looking for, whilst also allowing employees the flexibility and work-life balance they desire. Offering a hybrid style of working could also assist with attracting new employees and encourage their existing teams to stay put too.

Organisations that have already started the transition from fully remote to a more hybrid working style have seen positive results. A CIPD report on flexible and hybrid working practices revealed that almost two-fifths (38%) of organisations said that hybrid working has increased their organisation’s productivity and efficiency. They also noted improvements in their attraction and retention and the ability to hire a more diverse workforce from a wider geographical area.

Another CIPD report found that 69% of organisations saw an improvement in their employee’s work–life balance, 48% had more satisfied employees and 41% reported greater employee wellbeing, all thanks to the introduction of hybrid working.

There are benefits that can come from having a team working altogether in one central location, but organisations shouldn’t be ignoring the significant perks to having high levels of happy and satisfied employees either. So rather than saying goodbye to remote working for good, hybrid working could be the friendly compromise that keeps both sides of the table happy.

If you’d like to learn more about remote and hybrid working and the modern workforce, you can download a copy of our Salary and Engagement report here for further insights.