July 19, 2021

Hybrid work is likely to be the new normal, and the rest of 2021 will be a gigantic experiment in hybrid work, productivity, employee/employer participation, and management.

Here are some data points to consider:

• A TinyPulse survey of HR managers found that 62.8% consider hybrid work to be the most productive approach for their companies.
• Global Workplace Analytics predicts that 25% to 30% of the workforce will work from home several days a week by the end of this year.

The most important questions during this large-scale work experiment include:

• Will companies be data-driven through hybrid work, remote work and in-person?

Microsoft Research found that 54% of workers are overworked and 39% feel exhausted. The productivity signals from Microsoft 365 indicate digital overload, with Microsoft Teams holding more meetings than ever from February 2020 to February 2021.

Companies say that they care about the well-being of their employees, but Microsoft Research has revealed that a fifth of respondents worldwide say that their employer does not care about their work-life balance.

• How do diversity and inclusion influence the hybrid approach?

Many companies are planning a job-restoration plan centred around big cities, but the problem is that lower-income employees cannot move to a big city location, and it is in fact remote work that has opened up diversity for many companies.

• How is vaccine management developing?

According to the TinyPulse survey, 48% of companies are in favor of vaccination, while 28% of personnel have no vaccination policy.

For more information, read the original story in ZDNet.