Hybrid Working or Back to Office? The Future of a Workplace
Published: 24/03/2025
Free trial
See for yourself how you can save time and money. Enter your details below for a free 30 day no-obligation trial.
In this article, we will discuss many companies' prevailing concerns - is it time to wave hybrid working goodbye, or is it here to stay? The goal is to discuss the pros and cons and help you decide.
With the pandemic being but a distant memory, more and more companies are deciding to abolish hybrid working. There is no more looming danger of the virus, and the world has returned to its usual ways, prompting businesses to consider reverting to their old setups, too. But is this really a wise decision? The reason why hybrid offices are still operational and popular stretches past being compliant with the government regulations that have since been lifted. That’s why you shouldn’t make the change without thinking it through.
To keep things objective, in this article, we will be talking about the challenges that both hybrid working and back-to-office policy raise. Our stance on the matter is neutral as we strongly believe the choice should be determined by each company individually, based on their internal structure, culture and goals.
There are two routes for hybrid workplaces: they will either evolve or cease to exist. The latter is unlikely because of how beneficial hybrid working has been to many companies. However, with how many companies are moving back to 9-to-5 office working, the hybrid we know today will likely transform soon.
It’s too early to say what’s to be expected, but based on the current trends, we can expect to see more AI use. The concerns regarding this technology are also one of the reasons more and more businesses embrace preserving their manpower. Thus, the future shape of the workplace is very uncertain.
If you decide to move back to office work, you can’t just announce it is happening. It’s a big transition that will affect everyone in your company, and you should prepare your workers and yourself.
Workplace changes are seldom welcomed, especially if they involve reinventing the entire company structure. While remote work and the emergence of hybrid working were mandatory measures to adapt to the worldwide crisis, implementing further change is now a choice. There’s a good chance that the said choice will be met with internal resistance. Regarding day-to-day processes, most people prefer consistency and build their habits, productivity and timeframes around it. Significant changes, such as moving back from hybrid working to being office-bound, will require people to restructure their days and processes again and go through the adaptation period. These changes would be even more jarring if they generally found the hybrid more accommodating to their lifestyle.
In fact, most people do report finding hybrid work more sustainable and work-life balance-focused than in-office work. When surveyed, many people confirmed that the hybrid office is a deciding factor when choosing a job. Those already in employment said they would start looking for a new job if their hybrid working privileges were revoked, and a small percentage even said they would quit on the spot.
Hybrid working is synonymous with flexibility, enabling employees to build their workdays around their preferences and other responsibilities. It also works similarly to companies themselves. Establishing an employee rotation can save money by renting out smaller premises and reducing maintenance costs. It also allows companies to tap into a wider talent pool by lifting the location constraints.
Returning to a rigid full-time office setup has many pros but lacks flexibility. First, the employees must consider commuting time and expenses, leaving them with less time. Being location-bound also means more prep and time blocking when arranging meetings, whereas jumping on a video call is generally treated as more relaxed and quicker. Leaving hybrid behind will undoubtedly reduce the overall flexibility, one of the biggest threats.
Hybrid working isn’t flawless, either. While we’ve discussed the challenges of moving your team back into the office, we don’t want to over-glorify hybrid. It has a few significant flaws that are the primary reasons companies are abandoning it. If your business suffers from them, hybrid might not be a solution for you either.
The biggest challenge of the hybrid workplace is bridging the gap between the office team and the remote workers. For the business to run smoothly, everyone should have easy access to each other and work side-by-side, which is hard to achieve when your team is scattered across several locations. However, it is not impossible. With the correct tools and a strategy, hybrid working won’t decrease collaboration value or communication downfalls. When done right, hybrid working will propel them to the next level.
Think outside the box instead of only focusing on the obvious, such as adding instant messengers to your digital toolset. Namely, focus on easily accessible solutions that foster a centralised database and support real-time collaborations, easy handovers and as few friction points as possible. Automation is not just a nice addition but a crucial component as it can smoothen processes involving multiple people by reducing the back-and-forth. Experiment, analyse and optimise - your productivity will soar.
Despite work-life balance often being seen as something hybrid working uplifts, it isn’t always the case. To some, the hybrid setup blurred the lines between working and resting. Especially during the pandemic, when remote working was still a novelty to many, people would report difficulties tuning in and out of work due to the lack of environment change. While hybrid working involves physically going into the office once or twice a week, this early issue still prevails and has taken a new shape.
Some workers cannot focus in a noisy office environment, which plummets their productivity. However, there’s another side to the coin. Multiple cases have also been reported of people admitting they struggle to find motivation when working at home and are more susceptible to distractions, especially those related to their out-of-work lifestyle. In other words, while work-life balance is widely associated with better productivity, in reality,, it’s a slippery slope.
As mentioned in the beginning, a decision to make a change should be an informed one. Don’t just weigh the pros and cons, but also look for the answer within your company: your team, internal processes, goals and values. Unfortunately, we cannot tell you what to do because in reality…
Ultimately, no one but you can determine whether you should continue with the hybrid or urge everyone to return to the office. Every company is different, and so is every team. There are many factors coming into play that may sway your decision - the average age of your employees, the preferred communication style, tech savviness, the nature of your business and many more.
If you are still unsure or have an equal split regarding the general criteria, the next best choice is to ask your workers directly. Unless everyone votes to return to the office unanimously, hybrid is to take place, but instead of going with the default setup, you’ll have to tailor your own. For example, those who want to return to the office permanently will be provided such an option. However, those who prefer working remotely or hybrid will have allocated days when they need to come in or follow a rotating schedule - whatever works best for your company. What we are trying to say here is that a compromise is possible and relatively easily achievable. The hardest part is determining what’s right for you; you already have the answer. All that’s needed is to look for it.
Hybrid working stuck around as it positively impacted productivity and employee wellbeing. However, to some companies, it’s brought nothing but headaches, and they are now moving back to working in the office full-time. If that’s the case, they should approach transitioning back with a plan that covers several risk areas. Namely the internal resistance and even loss of the current employees, a lesser talent pool and the general loss of business flexibility. When handled correctly, however, these factors won’t have too much of a negative impact.
However, this doesn’t mean companies should force themselves to stay hybrid. If you cannot overcome the challenge of connecting in-person and remote teams, a unified environment is your best choice. Additionally, if the hybrid affected your staff negatively, especially in separating work from everyday life, you should seek changes. Ultimately, there is no right or wrong answer here, for every company is unique. Your route depends on you, and we hope you’ve got your answer.
Need further guidance? Get in touch.