In-person, hybrid or remote? Employers’ perspectives on the future of work post-pandemic

Abstract

We present an employer-side perspective on remote work through the pandemic using data from top executives of 129 employers in North America. Our analysis suggests that at least some of the pandemic-accelerated changes to the work location landscape will likely stick; with some form of hybrid work being the norm. However, the patterns will vary by department (HR/legal/sales/IT, etc.) and by sector of operations. Top three concerns among employers include: supervision and mentoring, reduction in innovation, and creativity; and the top three benefits include their ability to retain / recruit talent, positive impact on public image and their ability to compete. An Ordered Probit model of the expected April 2024 work location strategy revealed that those in transportation, warehousing, and manufacturing sectors, those with a fully in-person approach to work pre-COVID, and those with a negative outlook towards the impact of remote work are likely to be more in-person-centered, while those with fully remote work approach in April 2020 are likely to be less in-person-centered. Lastly, we present data on resumption of business travel, in-person client interactions and changes in office space reconfigurations that employers have made since the beginning of the pandemic.