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Hybrid Work

What We Measure
We track the percentages of exclusively remote, hybrid and on-site employees and explore their experiences in those work arrangements.
U.S. Work Locations (Remote-Capable Jobs)
Exclusively Remote
28%
2
Hybrid
52%
1
On-Site
20%
1
Why it matters

Why Does Your Hybrid Work Strategy Matter?

Crafting a long-term hybrid work strategy requires a clear understanding of how organizations are structuring hybrid remote work flexibility and what is working best for employees. Gallup's latest insights show that the ability to work in a hybrid arrangement is what most employees want. To remain competitive, organizational cultures need to reflect that they provide what employees are looking for.

The majority of remote-capable employees are currently working in a hybrid or exclusively remote arrangement.

Employee Work Locations for Remote-Capable Jobs Among U.S. Employees in February 2023. Fifty-two percent of employees are hybrid, where more than or equal to 10% of their work, and less than 100% of their work, is remote. Twenty-eight percent of employees are exclusively remote, while 20% are on-site.

Six in 10 employees with remote-capable jobs want a hybrid work arrangement. One-third prefer fully remote work, and less than 10% prefer to work on-site.

Sequential circle chart. Work Locations for Remote-Capable Jobs Among U.S. Employees, since pre-pandemic 2019. Before the pandemic, in 2019, 8% of employees were exclusively remote. That number increased to 39% of employees who were exclusively remote February 2022. In February 2023, 28% of employees were exclusively remote, and 26% expected to work remotely in the future. Thirty-three percent of employees said their preferred work location is remote, as of February 2023.
Diagram showing work locations for remote-capable jobs
Sequential circle chart. Work Locations for Remote-Capable Jobs Among U.S. Employees, since pre-pandemic 2019. Before the pandemic, in 2019, 32% of U.S. employees were hybrid workers, with greater than or equal to 10% of their work, and less than 100% of their work, being remote. In February 2022, 42% of employees worked in a hybrid model. In February 2023, 52% of employees were working in a hybrid model, and 54% expected hybrid working in the future. Sixty percent of employees said their preferred work location is hybrid, as of February 2023.
Sequential circle chart. Work Locations for Remote-Capable Jobs Among U.S. Employees, since pre-pandemic 2019. Before the pandemic, in 2019, 60% of U.S. employees were on-site workers despite remote capability. That number decreased to 19% of employees working on-site in February 2022. In February 2023, 20% of employees were working on-site, and 21% expected to work on-site in the future. Only 7% of employees said their preferred work location is on-site, as of February 2023.
Sequential circle chart. Work Locations for Remote-Capable Jobs Among U.S. Employees. Before the pandemic, in 2019, 8% of employees were exclusively remote, 32% were hybrid and 60% were on-site. In February 2023, 28% of employees were exclusively remote, and 26% expected to continue remote work; 52% of employees worked in a hybrid environment, and 54% expected hybrid working in the future; 20% of employees worked on-site, and 21% expected to work on-site in the future; 60% of employees preferred to work in a hybrid environment, 33% preferred exclusively remote work and 7% preferred to work on-site.

When remote-capable, on-site employees don't work in their preferred location, they have greater intentions of leaving, higher burnout, and lower life evaluations and employee engagement.

Remote-capable, on-site employees' preference for remote work flexibility has increased.

Six in 10 exclusively remote employees say they are extremely likely to search for employment elsewhere if they are not allowed remote flexibility.

Exclusively remote and hybrid employees tend to have significantly higher employee engagement than on-site workers.

Remote-capable, on-site employees have experienced the largest drop in engagement since 2019. These individuals have a job that could be performed with remote flexibility, but instead, they are required to work on-site every workday.

On-site employees whose job is not remote-capable have the lowest engagement.

How often should hybrid workers come to the office, and who should determine their schedules?

Gallup data show that spending two to three days in the office during a typical week tends to lead to the highest levels of employee engagement, and tends to reduce burnout and intentions to leave the organization. However, employees' unique job responsibilities, as well as their team's collaboration and customer service requirements, should be considered when determining hybrid work schedules. For instance, highly collaborative jobs requiring frequent real-time interactions often benefit from more time in the office than jobs that are done mostly independently.

There is no discernable pattern for which days in the office lead to positive outcomes, although people tend to favor going to the office on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

Who should establish your organization's hybrid work policy?

Work teams that set their hybrid policy together have the highest engagement, but only 13% of employees benefit from this approach.

Results for the Gallup poll of U.S. employees are based on self-administered web surveys of a random sample of adults who are aged 18 and older, working full time or part time for organizations in the United States, and members of the Gallup Panel. Gallup uses probability-based, random sampling methods to recruit its Panel members. Gallup weighted the obtained samples to correct for nonresponse. Nonresponse adjustments were made by adjusting the sample to match the national demographics of gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education and region. Demographic weighting targets were based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for the aged 18 and older U.S. population. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Gallup defines “exclusively remote” as employees working from home or a remote location 100% of the time. “Hybrid” employees are those who work from home or a remote location 10% to less than 100% of the time. “On-site” employees work from home or a remote location 0% to less than 10% of the time.

In line charts on this webpage, Gallup labels some data points with a year and month. Years that have only one data point labeled with the year and "Jan" (abbreviated for "January") reflect annual survey results. Years that have one data point labeled with a specific month besides January or that have multiple data points labeled with specific months reflect results obtained during the noted month(s). When Gallup’s survey field dates for one data point occur in more than one month, Gallup labels the data point with the ending month.

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Next Steps

How Does Your Workplace Compare?

Global and regional data tell a story -- but the story of your organization is different. Check out the option below for your next step:

Discover more about hybrid work, including how to manage your hybrid and remote teams even better. Explore "A Guide to Hybrid Working and Managing Remote Teams" for all the details.

Learn More

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