Global Indicator: Hybrid Work

What We Measure

We track the percentages of exclusively remote, hybrid and on-site employees and explore their experiences in those work arrangements.

U.S. Work Locations (Remote-Capable Jobs)

Exclusively Remote

27%

Hybrid

53%

On-Site

21%

Go To

Where Are People Working Now and Into the Future?
What Are the Advantages and Challenges of Hybrid Work?
What Is the Risk of Eliminating Remote Flexibility?
How Does Remote Flexibility Influence Employee Engagement?
How Many Days On-Site Are Best for Employee Engagement?
Does Work Location Affect Employees' Connection to Mission or Purpose?
Who Should Own Your Team's Hybrid Work Policy?
How Do Employees Feel About Remote Meetings?

Why it matters

Why Does Your Hybrid Work Strategy Matter?

Crafting a long-term hybrid work strategy requires a clear understanding of how organizations are structuring remote work flexibility and what is working best for employees, especially given that five in 10 full-time U.S. employees have remote-capable jobs.

To remain competitive, organizational cultures need to reflect that they provide what employees are looking for.

1. Where Are People Working Now and Into the Future?

Gallup's latest insights show that the majority of remote-capable employees are currently working in a hybrid or exclusively remote arrangement, and the ability to work in a hybrid arrangement is what most remote-capable employees want. Six in 10 employees with remote-capable jobs want a hybrid work arrangement. About one-third prefer fully remote work, and less than 10% prefer to work on-site.

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2. What Are the Advantages and Challenges of Hybrid Work?

Hybrid employees feel strongly about the advantages of their work arrangement -- the top benefits of hybrid work are selected two to three times more than the top challenges.

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3. What Is the Risk of Eliminating Remote Flexibility?

Six in 10 exclusively remote employees say they are extremely likely to search for employment elsewhere if they are not allowed remote flexibility.

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4. How Does Remote Flexibility Influence Employee Engagement?

Exclusively remote and hybrid employees tend to have significantly higher employee engagement than on-site workers.

Remote-capable, on-site employees have experienced the largest drop in engagement since 2020. These individuals have a job that could be performed with remote flexibility, but instead, they are required to work on-site every workday.

On-site employees whose job is not remote-capable have the lowest engagement.

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5. How Many Days On-Site Are Best for Employee Engagement?

Gallup data show that spending three days in the office, or working exclusively remotely, was associated with somewhat higher levels of employee engagement for remote-capable workers in 2023. Before then, we consistently found that working two to three days on-site resulted in substantially higher levels of engagement. As organizations adapt to various hybrid work policies and employees settle into these new practices, it seems that there is no perfect one-size-fits-all hybrid work model. Yet a moderate amount of remote flexibility continues to optimize engagement for hybrid workers.

There is no discernable pattern for which days in the office lead to positive outcomes, although people tend to favor going to the office on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Additionally, employees' unique job responsibilities, as well as their team's collaboration and customer service requirements, should be considered when determining hybrid work schedules. For instance, highly collaborative jobs requiring frequent real-time interactions often benefit from more time in the office, compared to jobs that are done mostly independently.

Gallup also found a factor that mattered substantially more than the number of days in the office: meaningful feedback. How does meaningful feedback influence engagement?

80% of employees who said they received meaningful feedback in the past week were fully engaged -- regardless of how many days they worked in the office.

4x The boost in engagement from meaningful feedback is four times the boost from having the right number of days in the office.

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6. Does Work Location Affect Employees' Connection to Mission or Purpose?

Remote-capable employees have an eroding connection to the mission or purpose of their organization. The drop is more pronounced among exclusively remote employees in recent surveys.

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7. Who Should Own Your Team's Hybrid Work Policy?

Work teams that set their hybrid policy together have the highest engagement, but only 12% of employees benefit from this approach.

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8. How Do Employees Feel About Remote Meetings?

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Survey Methods

Results for the Gallup poll of U.S. employees are based on self-administered web surveys of a random sample of adults who are aged 18 and older, working full time or part time for organizations in the United States, and members of the Gallup Panel. Gallup uses probability-based, random sampling methods to recruit its Panel members. Gallup weighted the obtained samples to correct for nonresponse. Nonresponse adjustments were made by adjusting the sample to match the national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education and region. Demographic weighting targets were based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older U.S. population. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Gallup defines “exclusively remote” as employees working from home or a remote location 100% of the time. “Hybrid” employees are those who work from home or a remote location 10% to less than 100% of the time. “On-site” employees work from home or a remote location 0% to less than 10% of the time.

In line charts on this webpage, Gallup labels some data points with a year and month. Years that have only one data point labeled with the year and "Jan" (abbreviated for "January") reflect annual survey results. Years that have one data point labeled with a specific month besides January or that have multiple data points labeled with specific months reflect results obtained during the noted month(s). When Gallup’s survey field dates for one data point occur in more than one month, Gallup labels the data point with the ending month.

The Gallup Q¹² items are Gallup proprietary information and are protected by law. You may not administer a survey with the Q¹² items or reproduce them without written consent from Gallup. Copyright © 1993-1998 Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.

What Employees Want and Get Out of Hybrid Work

These data are more than just numbers. Check out this content for an in-depth look at how employees' desires for hybrid work influence their experiences and workplaces.

How to Boost Productivity in Hybrid Teams

A new Gallup study reveals four ways to promote successful team collaboration in a hybrid work environment. Discover how to equip teams to thrive.

Go Deeper: A Guide to Hybrid Work and Managing a Remote Team

Six in 10 employees with remote-capable jobs want a hybrid work arrangement. Building a productive and agile work environment outside the office is possible. Learn how to lead, manage and succeed with remote and hybrid work.

6 Workplace Trends Leaders Should Watch in 2024

From hybrid work to restructuring, relationships between employees and employers have changed. Here are six of the most important trends leaders should watch in 2024.

Next Steps

How Does Your Workplace Compare?

Global and regional data tell a story -- but the story of your organization is different. Check out the option below for your next step:

Discover more about hybrid work, including how to manage your hybrid and remote teams even better. Explore "A Guide to Hybrid Working and Managing Remote Teams" for all the details.

Learn More

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