Companies have found employees can be just as productive when working remotely. And they’re happier too

Despite headline-grabbing return-to-office mandates by particular employers hybrid and remote work are here to stay Various employers are even perfecting their approach to flexible work arrangements They re making in-person time more strategic and purposeful designating in-office days and taking measures to ensure new employees don t feel isolated They re undoubtedly here to stay Johnny Taylor president and CEO of the Society for Human Store Management announced of remote and flexible work options It s hard to put that genie back in the bottle When employers adopted flexible work arrangements during the height of the COVID- pandemic several determined that employees were just as productive when working remotely In the years since they ve discovered that hybrid and remote work options also improve morale and make it easier to recruit and retain employees who are increasingly prioritizing flexibility Among U S workers who have jobs that can be performed remotely the percentage who work a hybrid schedule has hovered between and since November according to Gallup That s up from in The percentage who are exclusively remote has stayed between and in fresh years up from in January About half of the U S workforce is in jobs that can be done remotely and the majority of those employees are working hybrid schedules The two exceptions are the tech industry where of employees remain fully remote and the establishment sector where President Donald Trump s administration ended remote work for largest part federal employees this year This is primarily employee-driven Thomas Vick Chicago-based senior regional director at recruiting and staffing giant Robert Half explained of the hybrid and remote arrangements The demand for flexibility has been building for years Surveys before the pandemic repeatedly demonstrated that of employees needed to work from home chosen of the time revealed Kate Lister founder and principal of Global Workplace Analytics Currently countless workers signal they won t settle for anything less About half of U S workers who work fully remote or hybrid say that if forced to return to the office full time they would ostensibly or in specific cases definitely search for a new job according to contemporary SHRM research Records shows they mean it Employers who ve mandated a return to the office have paid a price according to a University of Pittsburgh survey The researchers detected that S P companies had abnormally high turnover following return-to-the-office mandates Turnover was especially high among women senior staff and more skilled staff Researchers also determined it took significantly longer for the companies to fill job vacancies after the mandates Robert Half s Demand for Skilled Talent overview notes that hybrid job postings rose from in the second quarter of to of new jobs in the second quarter of Meanwhile fully in-office job postings declined from in to in the second quarter this year Several employers on the Chicago Tribune s list of top Workplaces have embraced hybrid and remote work Before the pandemic the staff at Frankfort-based Robinson Engineering worked in the office of the time The present day of the firm s employees work hybrid or remote and employees can choose which of its offices they want to be their home base Largest part employees spend three days a week in the office announced Denise St Pierre director of organizational rise for the engineering firm Managers and employees decide which days work best for the department and the individual The company concluded that three days in the office works best That has helped address the challenges of the remote hybrid model which when not well-managed can hurt relationship building St Pierre declared The company also holds meet and greets for new employees and fosters a sense of group through office celebrations an annual softball encounter and an annual outing for employees and their families Hybrid and remote work arrangements require top device and transparency to be prosperous which the company provides mentioned CEO Aaron Fundich Transparency of expectations is key the expectation is that if the phone rings you have to be there to pick up he mentioned If someone sends you an email you ve got to be able to respond in an appropriate amount of time If there is a project deadline the deadline must be met whether you are in the office or working remotely Ashton Loitz a project engineer for Robinson Engineering lets his dogs out during his lunch break at his family s home in Peotone Sept Loitz works a hybrid work schedule where he works from home Mondays and Fridays Eileen T Meslar Chicago Tribune Ashton Loitz a project engineer for Robinson Engineering works from his Peotone home on Sept Eileen T Meslar Chicago Tribune Ashton Loitz a project engineer for Robinson Engineering speaks to daughter Leighton while his wife Elle Loitz holds her during his lunch break at their home in Peotone on Sept Eileen T Meslar Chicago Tribune Show Caption of Ashton Loitz a project engineer for Robinson Engineering lets his dogs out during his lunch break at his family s home in Peotone Sept Loitz works a hybrid work schedule where he works from home Mondays and Fridays Eileen T Meslar Chicago Tribune Expand Ashton Loitz a project engineer noted being able to work from home has been a big positive particularly since he and his wife became parents earlier this year I can spend time with my newborn and wife during lunch he disclosed That s been huge being able to see them during the day Whether he s working from home or in the office Loitz revealed if he demands to reach out to more experienced engineers for help they re accessible Company events and engagements have helped him feel connected to younger engineers he explained Dana West senior project manager at Robinson Engineering noted the hybrid model works for her On the days that I m in the office I love to see people she commented That definitely allows for better collaboration checking in with people feeling connected But when West demands to focus particularly when writing reports she s better able to do that from home she revealed The flexibility also allows her to be involved in more sessions with her twin teenagers A reliance on material drove Itasca-based enterprise solution company Flexera s decision to allow widespread remote work The records narrated us people are more productive at home revealed Michelle Benko senior director of employee communications and engagement Flexera has employees in the Chicago area and globally Sixty-three percent of employees are Cloudies staff who work remotely full time before the pandemic only worked remotely Benko stated Related Articles Planning a home project Watch out for these pitfalls Cape Cod lobsterman scores win in fight against local Massachusetts red tape This is politics Trump admin knocks Maura Healey after she pushes for home heating funding France will investigate Musk s Grok chatbot after Holocaust denial contends More swings hit Wall Street but this time stocks finish higher Workers are encouraged to work from home or at one of its nearby offices on Together Tuesdays each week Flexera provides breakfast and lunch and encourages employees to use the day for collaboration club meetings and socializing To ease their transition new Flexera employees are assigned a buddy Managers are trained in how to supervise remote staff and are required to meet one-on-one with staff minutes weekly to ensure things stay on track and that issues or roadblocks are addressed With more hybrid workers the company requirements less office space so it closed a few offices and replaced them with smaller spaces It also created collaborative zones for squad meetings and socializing and reduced the number of permanently assigned desks opting instead for shared workspaces It assigns desk space as needed Benko commented To foster population Days of Connections are held quarterly Employees working remotely in the same city are encouraged to meet for lunch and participate in social initiatives The flex model has been an integral part of our being a great place to work reported Flexera CEO Jim Ryan Kevin Miller director of product marketing at Flexera who has children ages and mentioned he wouldn t want to work for an employer that didn t offer a hybrid remote option He values the flexibility and trust at Flexera Desiree Loebach senior recruiter who began work at the company in January opted to come into the office every day for her first six months on the job I requested to be able to throw myself into learning all I could about Flexera she mentioned Loebach very swiftly built up trust in her performance and now works in the office one to two days a week Working from home saves her a two-hour round-trip commute Accounting tax and consulting firm Plante Moran doesn t mandate a specific number of in-office days for its staff Through its Workplace for Your Day approach staff working with their managers choose the best work ecosystem each day based on client demands association dynamics and personal goals revealed Tom Kinder managing partner of the Chicago office Most of staff are in the office or on-site with clients at least three days each week The company has a flexible in-office workspace approach There are fewer assigned offices and desks than before the pandemic and staff choose where to sit based on their requirements for the day That might mean choosing a quiet area for focused work a collaborative space for face-to-face interaction or an area equipped for in-person and virtual meetings company representatives explained Jacquie Pollice a senior tax manager works an unconventional hybrid schedule During the busy tax season she s in her Chicago office four to five times a week At other times she works remotely from Florida where she has family and enjoys spending time with them during her off hours I get the best of both worlds she reported Fall is a busy season for Melissa Sutherland senior manager in the company s assurance department During those months she s typically in the office Monday through Thursday During the slower summer months she works remotely two to three days a week she commented She manages project teams from two to six people To ensure things run smoothly communication is key she mentioned Captive Information an Itasca-based insurance consultant and broker company shifted from a flexible hybrid model to designated in-office days on Tuesdays and Wednesdays stated Rose Frieri chief human tools officer It made the change after noticing preponderance in-person collaboration took place on one day Seventy percent of its staff are hybrid and are fully remote Captive Tools has provided training to ensure managers are equipped to properly supervise people working remotely and hybrid and the company has stressed the importance of managers staying engaged with staff We are checking in on them making sure things are going OK that there aren t issues noted CEO Nick Hentges It s really easy to not see issues when you don t see people very often So it s incumbent on our management crew to make sure they re really engaged with our folks and we have to have the right systems in place the right setups For Steve Hunt senior vice president of maintains the thought of working hybrid was an adjustment Based on my age I initially had specific reservations he shared I was a little leery possibly a little bit based on device concerns and being in a organization atmosphere But I did really adapt hurriedly His job is now fully remote but he says he typically goes into the office once a week to once every week and a half He enjoys the overall work-life balance it affords him The Sunday scaries inspired the hybrid work model at Rosemont-based retail project management company Big Red Rooster Flow Before COVID hit the company started hearing from younger staff that as weekends wound down they felt rising anxiety explained Kathy Dunne vice president of human information They were seeking more balance flexibility and a smoother transition into the week she reported So the company began giving employees the option of working from home on Mondays At present employees can work fully remote any day or come into the office It s their choice To foster belonging the company hosts Roosters of the Roundtable a quarterly venture where small work groups connect in -minute conversations on various topics The company also publishes a quarterly Rooster Post staff e-newsletter To assist new hires there s a structured training path and buddy system Dunne commented Meg Makepeace a vendor relations administrator joined the company in June She works fully remotely from Atlanta When I first started they scheduled meetings with different people from different teams one-on-ones with a variety of groups she stated That helped her feel supported and a sense of belonging she mentioned The company s employee turnover rate has improved from in to this year Dunne noted Hybrid and remote work are no longer a shift for us they re absolutely how we operate she revealed Every plan process and operation we design is intentionally built with remote work in mind As a product our club s morale is thriving Productivity remains strong because we lead with trust not mandates People know they can do their best work without the looming threat of being pulled back into an office unnecessarily That clarity and consistency have made all the difference Francine Knowles is a freelance writer