- Despite back-to-office mandates at Amazon and Dell, the tech world still seems to favor hybrid work.
- Research from Flex Index suggests that working from home is booming in the tech industry.
- Experts say hybrid work boosts recruitment and retention and could be crucial in tech talent wars.
Some tech workers are being dragged into the office — whether they like it or not.
Unpopular back-to-office mandates at Amazon and Dell have made headlines in recent months as workers protest strict new rules.
But while it may seem like workers are losing the battle for remote work, research suggests hybrid work is still the norm in the tech industry.
A study by Flex Index, a platform that tracks flexible work policies, found that most tech companies still had hybrid or remote policies as of this summer.
The research, which analyzed the policies of 2,670 companies, found that 79% of tech companies in June were “fully flexible”, meaning they did not force office time from employees – a slight increase from the same survey conducted in June 2023.
Just 3% of tech firms required employees to return to the office full-time, compared to 18% of companies that were “structured hybrids,” meaning some work days are mandated.
The picture was slightly different at the biggest tech companies. The more employees a company has, the more likely they are to adopt a structured hybrid system.
Only three-quarters of companies with more than 25,000 employees had adopted a structured hybrid policy, while 37% of technology firms with 500 to 5,000 employees had a hybrid work policy. The data suggests that Amazon and Dell are outliers in the tech world.
Compared to the same research published in June 2023, technology companies of all sizes have shifted slightly towards hybrid work, with the largest firms leading the charge.
“On the employer side, I think most of them would prefer to go back to regular office hours,” Peter Cappelli, professor of management at the Wharton Business School, told Business Insider.
“But it’s a huge irritation for employees to pull a benefit that employees really value, especially because employers aren’t giving them anything in return and haven’t made much effort to convince them why it’s necessary,” he said. he.
As Big Tech companies consider how far to take their RTO policies, one thing is clear—hybrid work is the perk to be had in the race for top talent.
Talent wars
Employees love flexibility at work. In a survey of 17,087 employees conducted by Stanford economist Nicholas Bloom, workers said they considered the right to work two or three days a week from home as valuable as an 8% pay rise.
Employees under strict RTO mandates at Amazon and Dell have been vocal about their lack of enthusiasm for the new rules, with some at Dell forgoing promotions in favor of remote working.
In the current landscape, this likely means that Big Tech companies with a hybrid labor policy will have an advantage when it comes to recruiting and retaining top talent.
Bloom, a world authority on telecommuting, told BI that he doesn’t expect other Big Tech firms to follow Amazon’s lead on RTOs for that reason.
“Hybrid is too profitable to pass up,” he said. “The evidence is that hybrid is just as effective as fully in-person – but hybrid is better for recruitment and retention.”
He said forcing full-time office workers could lead to higher turnover, which could be costly for companies.
The tech world is also engaged in a brutal battle for talent, especially for top AI researchers. Last month, Google reportedly paid $2.7 billion in a deal aimed primarily at bringing AI scientist and startup founder Noam Shazeer back to the company.
Cevat Aksoy, associate director of research at the EBRD and associate professor of economics at King’s College London, told BI his research shows that a significant portion of the workforce highly values the option to work from home. Many are willing to leave or look for new work if ordered to return to the office full time, he said.
“Companies that adopt full RTO policies may face challenges in retaining talent,” Aksoy said. “Given the growing demand for flexibility and the strong preferences many employees have, we can expect hybrid work to remain a critical tool for companies looking to stay competitive in attracting top talent.”
However, the RTO’s five-day initiatives also have their supporters. John Rossman, an Amazon executive in the early 2000s, told BI that the company is making the right move to “Jump-start growth again.”
Efficiency, or otherwise
In the past year, tech companies have gotten tough on remote workers, monitoring office card swipes and disciplining those who don’t follow the rules.
While some large companies, such as Nvidia, have remained controlled, most Big Tech companies have had hybrid policies of varying degrees.
But they’re also not making any promises that it will stay that way.
Microsoft and Google, both of which have a hybrid policy that allows employees to work from home at least some of the time, recently issued a veiled threat to workers: keep productivity up if you want to avoid returning to the office full-time .
Aksoy said this worked as a way to ensure accountability among tech workers.
“It’s likely to be a reminder to employees that hybrid work isn’t guaranteed — it’s about continued performance. This kind of message helps everyone focus on delivering results while giving companies room to tighten policies.” if they start seeing any productivity issues or collaboration challenges,” he said.
That said, Aksoy still thinks it’s unlikely that Big Tech will bring back five-day-a-week employees.
“The benefits of hybrid work, both for companies and employees, are very significant,” said Aksoy. “Plus, the hybrid model allows these companies to tap into a wider pool of talent without being limited by geography. So as long as productivity remains high, I think hybrid work is here to stay in the tech world.”