Over seven in 10 (72%) employers intend to offer hybrid work (i.e., working remotely a few days a week or month) as a flexible work option to at least some of their employees after the COVID-19 pandemic, according to 439 US employers responding to XpertHR's Flexible Work Policies and Practices Survey 2021.

The survey examined six types of flexible work options employers plan to provide post-pandemic and found that hybrid work was the most popular, followed by flexible hours (44%), fully remote work (i.e., working remotely every day and visiting the office a few times a year or less) (43%), flexible scheduling (37%), compressed workweeks or schedules (13%), and extended core business hours to accommodate flexible start/stop times (13%).

Just under one-tenth (9%) of organizations do not plan to offer any flexible work options post-pandemic, and 5% were not sure.

"According to the survey, hybrid work is poised to become a common feature of the post-pandemic working world," notes Andrew Hellwege, Surveys Editor, XpertHR. "In short, for many organizations, it appears the future will be hybrid."

The survey asked about over 10 motivations for offering flexible work options and found that the top motivation is increasing retention, with 89% of the 368 responding organizations that plan to offer at least one flexible work option to at least some employees post-pandemic citing this as either "somewhat" or "very" important in motivating them to offer flexible work options, with recruiting talent (82%), improving work-life balance (82%), employee wellness (81%), and employee input (78%) rounding out the top five motivations.

"The results indicate that the war for talent is playing a big role in organizations' planning around flexible work," notes Hellwege, "with nearly nine in 10 employers reporting "increasing retention" as either "somewhat" or "very" important in motivating them to offer flexible work options."

XpertHR's Flexible Work Policies and Practices Survey 2021 was conducted from July 20, 2024, to August 13, 2024, and published on September 29, 2024. The survey includes the responses from 439 US employers of various industries and workforce sizes. The total estimated number of employees of responding organizations is 1,004,318. The survey report explores employer policies and practices concerning flexible work, such as types of flexible work options organizations are planning to offer after the COVID-19 pandemic, manager trainings about flexible work, motivations for instituting flexible work, reimbursement practices for remote-working expenses, and more.