Hybrid Work Might be a Necessary Enteprrise Compromise

A study conducted by Incisiv for AT&T suggests permanent changes in work venues, though fully-remote work might be less common than many project, as work moves “back into the office” by 2024. 

Such changes matter for all larger enterprises, but also will affect internet access provider, mobility and fixed network capital investment and other priorities. If there are fewer workers at large company sites, on average, demand for bandwidth and other connectivity support will diminish, from expected prior levels. 

Conversely, network support in suburban areas during daytime hours should remain higher than originally foreseen. Growth in demand for mobile internet access also could be affected, if fewer workers, on average, are traveling back and forth from office sites and out and about less often. 

source: AT&T 

Much will depend on whether employees or employers get their way, as there is a huge difference of opinion about the desirability of in-office work. 

Employees prefer remote work over office work, while employers prefer in-office modes.About 86 percent of employees want a distributed model while 64 percent of employers do not want a distributed model. 

source: AT&T 

So much hinges on which view prevails. In fact, it might be fair to note that executives hold inherently contradictory views about the future of remote work. On one hand, 91 percent believe remote work will decrease by 2024. That makes sense if even some workers return to the office, in hybrid deployments. 

And while 70 percent of executives believe hybrid will be the default, 58 percent also believe employees “have not been innovative” in distributed work modes. Also, about 40 percent of executives say their ability to maintain company culture, using distributed basing, has been diminished.

More than half of non-executive workers believe company culture has been negatively affected by enforced remote work. 

source: AT&T 

Of non-executive personnel, about 42 percent say maintaining company culture will be harder in a hybrid environment. 

Given the conflicting views, it might be safe to say that we presently have imperfect knowledge of how work venues might change in coming years. If enforced remote work is no longer necessary, there should be some movement back to office basing, at least part of the time. 

But employees will resist. And CxOs are likely to continue insisting they lack oversight of employee performance when workers are remote. “Hybrid increasingly will be the compromise.