This was supposed to be the year of returning to the office. The same could be said for 2021, and even the second half of 2020. The office seems to have become a place where we\u2019re always \u201creturning\u201d but never quite \u201carriving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although office occupancy rates have risen meaningfully, they are still nowhere near pre-pandemic norms in most of the country. In most big cities, offices are still empty more than half the time. Even in Austin, Texas \u2014 which has the highest occupancy rate among large cities, according to Kastle Systems badge-in data \u2014 workplaces are still much emptier than before the pandemic.<\/p>\n
So, what have we learned about hybrid work over the past 12 months?<\/p>\n
Hybrid work is the norm. The idea of a tug of war between managers and employees over spending time in the office has been a bit exaggerated. Polls have shown consistently that employees do value some degree of face time and want to be in the office roughly two days a week. Managers would prefer three. For those keeping score at home, that\u2019s a difference of \u2026 one day.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverwhelmingly, managers are pretty much aligned with employees,\u201d Stanford\u2019s Nicholas Bloom says. The exceptions he has found are people who have \u201c30-plus years of work experience, and have been very successful and have done that all in person \u2026 but they are real outliers.\u201d Instead, most bosses are gradually becoming comfortable with managing and evaluating employees they don\u2019t see every day \u2014 and not with creepy surveillance software, which Bloom dismisses as \u201cawful.\u201d <\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hybrid work is the norm. The idea of a tug of war between managers & employees over spending time in the office has been a bit exaggerated: \u201cOverwhelmingly, managers are pretty much aligned with employees,\u201d Stanford\u2019s Nicholas Bloom says https:\/\/t.co\/1XHLXCawo6<\/a><\/p>\n — Jim Russell (@ProducerCities) December 22, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n \n