During the pandemic, the working life of office workers shifted; the close quarters of an office environment were no longer an option. This forced employers to support their employees in carrying out their work from home, starting something of a revolution in the working world.

Whilst some embraced this new pace of life, others craved the social element of office life. Now that the peak of the pandemic is over, there’s a question mark over the future of fully remote work, with businesses seeking the best of both worlds.

Is working from home here to stay?

It’s true that for many, a better work life balance can be struck through remote work, with a commute time of mere seconds, and increased domestic flexibility. Three years after the pandemic first took hold, it’s been reported that 1 in 6 employees are working from home on a permanent basis.

However, we are seeing many companies make at least some regular attendance in the office mandatory, most notably Amazon, X (formerly Twitter), and, more surprisingly, Zoom. This is known as hybrid working; and it’s a term that isn’t going away.

What is hybrid working?

Hybrid working is still a flexible working pattern, but one that requires a portion of the week to be spent in the office; this could mean attending 2 or 3 days a week. The rest of the time, the employee can work from home.

What are the advantages of hybrid working?

A greater work life balance

Whether it’s working early in the morning, or being able to head straight out to the gym after work, the hybrid model allows workers to still fit work around their life. According to UK Parliament, ONS reported that in February 2022, 47% of those who worked from home in some way reported that it improved well-being.

Efficiency

Hybrid working encourages employees to use time wisely. For example, office days can be used for meetings, whilst working from home is a good time to get your head down and tackle some focused work.

Connection

Office time gives employees to connect with their colleagues and managers, allowing working relationships to develop and strengthen in a way that can only happen face to face. Decisions can be made without back and forth, communication improves, and knowledge can be shared more easily.

What are the disadvantages of hybrid working?

Disconnection

Freedom to choose office days means there may be clashes in schedules, causing frustration. The limited exposure to your colleagues can also still mean some of the work-from-home disconnection can creep in, with mix ups happening on messaging platforms and video calls.

Less collaboration

With less time for ideas to be bounced around, the whole team could be missing out on some golden opportunities and knowledge sharing.

A location limitation

By requiring attendance at a physical location, skilled individuals could be missing an ideal role that they could have fulfilled from home, and businesses could be limiting themselves to talent only within a certain radius of the office.

A new way of working for the 2020s

Whichever way you look at it, the traditional 9-5 office-based role is no longer the norm – and the shift has been fascinating. With hybrid working far more common, we don’t expect this blend of flexibility and collaboration to go anywhere anytime soon, thanks to the technology available, and the way our minds were opened by the pandemic.

For those looking to create a stylish, functional office space that employees enjoy coming to each week, we’d love to chat about how Komfort’s partitioning could be part of it; get in touch with the team to find out more.