Studies Show Hybrid Work Models Are Winning
Hybrid Workers are Happier, More Productive
The debate about the best work approach continues, with leaders sharing different views on the value of remote, in-office, or hybrid work. Recent Prodoscore data collected from over 3,000 employees and close to 50 companies over two years reveals some interesting trends regarding productivity across these work models. The findings indicate that hybrid work arrangements are a strong contender, often outperforming remote-only work and maintaining productivity levels comparable to in-office work.
Multiple reports offer similar findings. In a UK study, hybrid workers were happier, healthier, and more productive. Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom studied working-from professionals and found that workers with a hybrid schedule (two work-from-home days per week) were just as productive, likely to get promoted, and less inclined to quit. One of the professors who conducted this study called hybrid work the “win-win-win for employee productivity, performance, and retention.”
Prodoscore Employee Productivity Report Results
Hybrid Work
According to Prodoscore research, hybrid work also won in 2023 and 2024. Although hybrid workers were slightly less productive on days when they worked remotely than in the office, their overall productivity was higher than that of their remote or in-office counterparts.
Remote Work
Unfortunately for employees who want to work exclusively remotely, the data shows that remote work has produced lower productivity than hybrid work for the last two years. While the rebuttal to this may be that higher productivity numbers were observed for remote workers from 2020 to 2022, in most cases, this was because remote work was the only option during that time.
However, in the early 2020s, the infrastructure required for remote work and the breakdown of the management paradigm that workers always needed to be in the office to be productive took place. We wouldn’t have had hybrid work without it.
Productivity for remote-only workers tracked closer to hybrid employees for the summer months of June-August in 2024.
Why Does Employee Productivity Dip for Remote Workers?
While the Prodoscore report and others referenced provide objective data to support a hybrid approach, for context, we have to turn to other sources, like this 2023 survey from Harvard. Their findings were similar to ours in 2023: Remote work is about 10% less productive than in-office or hybrid work. However, that productivity loss can be made up for in real estate and other cost savings. Hybrid work offers the best of both worlds: less office space is needed, and productivity increases.
Remote workers are likely to be less productive because they have more flexibility, for example, when picking up kids from daycare, and are prone to more distractions than those in an office setting. However, this flexibility is precisely what employees crave, and retention rates for companies with remote working options prove that good people are more likely to stay if given the choice of working either hybrid or remotely.
How to Increase Remote Worker Employee Productivity
Your business can do some things to increase productivity while your employees work from home. These include limiting distractions, such as ensuring someone else can look after young children during their workday, creating a quiet space to work from, etc.
Many companies offer remote work allowances, which enable employees to upgrade their workspace to be more professional and comfortable than working from a kitchen table or couch. When staff struggle with remote work, they may need some training in time management and general organization skills. Employees who show a genuine interest in doing well can typically be coached when they have an environment that enables them to do their jobs well.
Of course, you can't identify improvements if you don’t measure employee productivity. The Prodoscore solution surfaces key metrics about productivity and engagement for individuals, teams, and leaders. The data is easy to digest and the solution is quick to deploy.
