Work and Management · Trend
Hybrid work is persisting: being in the office together is only a start
Splitting work between home and the office has become a lasting arrangement in some jobs. Start by clarifying which tasks your team needs to do together.
Content updated: 09/11/2026What is changing?
Hybrid work combines office-based work with work elsewhere. In the groups studied, the post-pandemic retreat from remote work slowed; it did not disappear. This does not mean every occupation is moving home.
How do we know?
Across 23 countries, college-educated workers reported 1.55 home-working days a week in 2022 and 1.23 in 2024/25, with the decline slowing after 2023. Separately, Gallup reports that 52% of US remote-capable workers were hybrid in 2026 and that the distribution has been relatively stable since 2022.
Who is affected, and how?
When colleagues work in different places, access to information and waiting for decisions can become problems. Managers need to ask which tasks require which people together, alongside deciding office attendance. This is our practical interpretation of the findings.
What can I do?
Pick one recent delayed task with the team. Was information missing, a decision-maker unavailable, or joint work needed? Trial one shared working rule for a short period and check whether waiting and rework decrease.
A sales colleague logs a customer request on Monday, but the technical specialist does not see it until Wednesday. The proposal is late, yet it is unclear whether location or unclear response expectations caused the delay.
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The team reviews its last three delayed proposals. For work needing a technical decision, it trials a short Tuesday discussion with questions shared in advance. A pricing table that can be prepared independently stays outside that meeting. After two weeks, the team checks decision waiting time, reworked proposals and customer deadlines. If delays persist, it clarifies ownership and response expectations before adding office days. These timeframes and counts belong to the example; they are not universal success thresholds.
Evidence and limitations (2)
The global persistence of work from home ↗
Average home-working days: 1.55 in 2022, 1.29 in 2023 and 1.23 in 2024/25; the decline slowed.
23 countries common to three waves · Full-time, college-educated workers · 42,938 responses in the comparison; ages 20–64.
Quota-sampled surveys in 2022, 2023 and late 2024–early 2025.
Source published: 2025-07-03 · Data period: 2022 — 2025-02 · Observed findingHybrid Work and Productivity — updated 28 September 2026 ↗
52% of remote-capable workers were hybrid in 2026. Distribution relatively stable since mid-2022, with sector and government exceptions.
United States · Workers in remote-capable jobs · The summary does not give the exact sample size for the 2026 distribution.
Comparison of employee surveys, independent of G-SWA; arrangements are self-reported.
Source published: 2026-07-27 · Data period: 2022 — 2026 · Observed findingUncertainties: G-SWA covers full-time, college-educated workers. Gallup concerns US remote-capable jobs. Patterns differ across sectors and countries.
Türkiye interpretation (inference): Türkiye is in G-SWA, but the pooled average here does not establish a Turkish rate or an appropriate number of office days.
Last evidence check: 09/11/2026