Hybrid workers are more satisfied than their counterparts

According to new research from Glassdoor, workers discussing hybrid work are far more satisfied in their roles than their non-hybrid counterparts. In addition, these workers are nearly half as likely to look for a new role as other employees.

Glassdoor looked at over 527,000 reviews by UK workers to examine how hybrid work impacts employees and their job hunting behaviour.

The findings show that ‘hybrid’ is a hot topic amongst employees: overall, mentions of the word grew 17 times year on year (up over 1,600%). In addition, positive discussion of ‘hybrid’ has soared by 3,682% since the beginning of the pandemic.

Anonymous reviews by employees showed that hybrid-reviewing workers rated their companies significantly higher for every workplace factor than non-hybrid workers, indicating that the former had greater satisfaction in their role.

Work-life balance showed the starkest difference for employees who mention ‘hybrid’, with a rating of 4.4 out of 5 versus 3.8 for those who don’t.

The research also revealed that while 25% of hybrid and non-hybrid workers click on job ads within a week of leaving a review on Glassdoor, those who do not mention hybrid working are almost twice as likely to start job applications. In total, 2.4% of hybrid employees applied to a new job within a week of leaving their review compared to 4.3 % of other employees – a 43% difference.

In addition to their data analysis, Glassdoor also surveyed 2,000 UK office workers to gain a deeper understanding of the impact of successful hybrid working patterns on employees.

The majority of respondents enjoy flexible working, with 71% of hybrid workers in full-time employment agreeing that they are happy with their arrangements.

When looking at the benefits of flexible working:

• 58% said they were more productive
• 63% were generally happier
• 64% reported improved work-life balance
• 74% said they enjoyed greater autonomy over their work
• 66% were more able to attend to personal responsibilities such as caring for children or life-admin
• 49% said they were less likely to look for a job because of the flexibility to switch between home and their workplace
• 58% said flexible working helped them manage the increased cost of living
• 23% said that commuting made it harder to cope with the increased cost of living

There are, however, negative aspects of hybrid working which show the importance of having good underlying policies in place:

• 43% of hybrid workers have found it harder to connect to their colleagues,
• 41% have struggled to learn from their peers
• 41% have found it challenging to build a relationship with their manager or senior colleagues
• 35% of hybrid workers feel that their working arrangement has stunted their progression

Lauren Thomas, UK economist at Glassdoor, commented: “In today’s tight labour market where there are record levels of job vacancies and unemployment is low, employees are the driving force for changing how we work. While some companies may be reluctant to allow hybrid working, Glassdoor’s research shows that workers are generally happier, more productive and less likely to consider leaving if they are allowed autonomy and flexibility over their working pattern.”

“However, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to the world of work post-pandemic. Companies need to introduce proper hybrid working policies for those who are at the start of their career, or are not managers, to continue to learn, flourish and make connections at work. The key to successful hybrid working is creating a workplace community and culture that supports employees professionally and personally.”