Hybrid work is not going away anytime soon, with office attendance stabilizing at 30 percent below pre-pandemic norms, according to a report from McKinsey Global Institute.
The report, released July 13, is based on a McKinsey survey of nearly 13,000 people in six countries, including roughly 3,200 the U.S. The survey also included about 2,600 people in China; 1,400 people in France; 1,900 people in Germany; 1,700 people in Japan; and 2,300 people in the United Kingdom.
"Employees still spend far less time working at the office than they did before the pandemic, according to our survey," McKinsey said.
"In early 2020, as they adopted remote work and hybrid work in response to lockdowns and health concerns, office attendance in the metropolitan areas we studied dropped by up to 90 percent. It has since recovered substantially but remains down by about 30 percent, on average."
In large firms in the "knowledge economy" — which McKinsey defines as the professional services, information and finance industries — employees tend to go to the office 3.2 days per week, on average. This is the lowest number of days per week spent in the office among surveyed industries.
"Characteristics of areas with lower office attendance include expensive housing, a higher ratio of inbound commuters to residents, and a small share of retail, according to our research on U.S. counties," McKinsey said. "Local culture also plays a role."
Meanwhile, workers in healthcare tend to go to the office 3.4 days per week, on average. Retail and wholesale trade, transportation, and agriculture and mining have the highest number of people spending time in the office each week.
McKinsey cited several reasons to believe that the current rate of office attendance could persist.
"First, the rate has remained fairly stable since mid-2022. Second, three key numbers — the number of days per week that survey respondents go to the office (3.5), the number of days they expect to go to the office after the pandemic ends (3.7), and their preferred number (3.2) — are not far apart," McKinsey said.
"Third, 10 percent of the people we surveyed said that they were both likely to quit their jobs if required to work at the office every day and willing to take a substantial pay cut if doing so let them work from home when they wanted. That group contains many senior, high-income employees, suggesting that they may wield influence over companies' decisions."
Still, McKinsey noted that "it is not certain that the current rate of office attendance will persist; it could change, for example, if labor market dynamics shift or if research conclusively indicates either a negative or a positive relationship between hybrid work and productivity."
To read the full report, click here.