It’s still not entirely clear just what shape (office) working life will take post-Covid, but researchers from Swinburne University of Technology believe a recent survey provides a glimpse into that future.

Their survey of nearly 1,500 knowledge workers reveals that under a quarter want to return to the office five days per week, with a similar percentage hoping to work remotely full-time. The remainder wanting some kind of hybrid work that splits their time between the office and a remote workplace.

Modes of hybrid work

What was perhaps most interesting, however, is that there wasn’t one distinct form of hybrid work, but instead three different approaches:

• Days in office fixed, with workers expected to attend the office for a specific number of set days (e.g. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays). This applied to 29% of hybrid workers (and 15.6% of all respondents).
• Fixed office frequency, but workers have the flexibility to choose which days (i.e. any three days a week). This applied to 24.3% of hybrid workers (and 13.1% of all respondents).
• Flexibility to choose where they work and when. This was the case for 28.5% of hybrid workers (and 15.4% of all survey respondents).

Generally speaking, however, there was a correlation between greater flexibility and happiness, with 94% of those with the greatest flexibility saying they were very happy with the arrangement. This compares to just over 70% who felt similarly when going into the office full-time.

This translated into a general desire for autonomy over their working arrangements, particularly in terms of the location but also the working hours. None of which should be news, but as we begin to understand what kind of work people want as we emerge from the pandemic, such insights might be a worthwhile reminder nonetheless.