Everything You Should Know About Hybrid Working

The truth is, we may never go back to exactly how the world was before the pandemic happened - and many don’t even want to.

The pandemic showed us the real potential of technology and the internet, and what it can provide to offices and businesses. It also forced us to ask ourselves some important questions. Do people really need physical offices and strict 9-5 schedules, especially in this era of instant connectivity, or are physical workspaces grossly overrated for “office-based” jobs?

Hybrid working may be the new normal and it’s certainly a word that’s being thrown around a lot in the business world these days. If you are currently looking for this type of a job and in the process of updating your CV, try out a free resume optimization tool to make sure that your CV stands out to employers. But what does hybrid working even mean, and what would life under this work model look like?

What is hybrid working?

First things first, what even is hybrid working? Well, it’s a working model that combines working from home with working from the office. The popularity of hybrid work models spread during the pandemic - only having to go to the office one or two days a week and working from home for the rest of the time lent people a lot of freedom, independence, and sometimes even increased their performance.

It even reduced operational costs for the office or business premises, which the employers didn’t completely hate either. The new work environment allows workers more freedom and anatomy in their lives. This transition is being facilitated by remote work management softwares and collaboration platforms everywhere.

Is this what people want?

Hybrid working seems like the perfect compromise between working from home and going back to the office, and research is backing this evidence. About 55% of the workers in America want a combination of working from home and from the office, but there are other factors that come into play too.

Even in companies where people will all be returning to the office post-COVID-19, employers are expected to spend more on technology development to facilitate online and remote collaboration between team members and the remote work industry is booming. In fact, there are people now who are looking to only hire remote workers for certain positions in the company. This is just one of the many forms of hybrid working that we might expect to see in the coming months.

Advantages of hybrid working

With the help of a hybrid working model, employees stand to gain the following advantages:

• A healthier work-life balance is going to be a natural consequence of the hybrid work model, where people aren’t made to distance themselves from their whole life for eight hours a day five days a week - or more. Many workers are now beginning to recognize how that isn’t a model that allows them enough time to invest in their own lives.
• Once people are happier with their lives, they’ll be able to focus better on work and be able to bring their best to the table. This will only increase their productivity and work performance.
• Another benefit of a hybrid work model would be increased job satisfaction - employees would be happier, and be more receptive to and welcoming of collaboration between employees when they do come to work.
• When the office building is only being used for one to three days a week, companies would be able to save a lot on power, maintenance and other overheads that are otherwise fixed.

Is hybrid working the future?

Hybrid working may not be adopted by every employer out there, but there’s a high chance that the ratio of remote to on-site employees will stay the same as it was before the pandemic.

Employers are more open to what remote working has to offer, and while new companies and startups might attempt to be more or less fully remote, there are organizations that will adopt a hybrid work model.