Hybrid working from home improves retention without damaging performance

Abstract Working from home has become standard for employees with a university degree. The most common scheme, which has been adopted by around 100 million employees in Europe and North America, is a hybrid schedule, in which individuals spend a mix of days at home and at work each week 1,2 . However, the effects of hybrid working on employees and firms have been debated, and some executives argue that it damages productivity, innovation and career development 3–5 . Here we ran a six-month randomized control trial investigating the effects of hybrid working from home on 1,612 employees in a Chinese technology company in 2021–2022. We found that hybrid working improved job satisfaction and reduced quit rates by…

• SR
  Smith Richardson Foundation
• SW
  Sid W. Richardson Foundation
• EA
  Economic and Social Research Council

  Award: ES/T014431/1