Hybrid work improves business efficiency
Moore Intelligence, Moore Global
1 April 2025
A significant majority of mid-market companies in key economies believe that hybrid working has had a positive impact on productivity and have increased their support for this flexible way of working since the global pandemic.
According to a Moore Intelligence survey of nearly 2,000 business leaders in 12 key countries, support for remote working has increased across all sectors except hospitality and tourism.
The research, conducted by the Centre for Economics and Business Research, provides a unique insight into mid-market companies and the views of their leaders. Many are entrepreneurs and owner-managers who typically demand that anything new they try has a long-term benefit for employee relationships, efficiency and the bottom line.
Our New Business Reality study also looked at other new ways of doing business that have either emerged or been accelerated by the Covid pandemic. Our findings include:
- 77% of executives said their organization has become more accepting of remote work due to Covid-19.
- 6 in 10 said hybrid working had a positive impact on productivity, with in-office professional services receiving the most support.
- 68% of respondents reported that their organization has become more accepting of e-commerce as a result of the pandemic.
The most obvious and lasting change has been the rise of remote working, with more than three-quarters of respondents saying they are more supportive now than they were before Covid struck.
Notably, the energy and utilities sector saw the biggest change in attitude towards remote working, with 91% of organisations reporting a more supportive attitude.
Other sectors where support exceeded 80% were real estate, information technology, automotive and aviation, electrical engineering, and accounting and finance.
This level of support reflects their ability to use technology to enable customer service teams to do their jobs effectively away from traditional work sites.
The survey covered businesses in Australia, Brazil, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Among the markets covered in this study, Brazil saw the most significant increase in support for remote working, followed by South Africa.
The main benefit of remote working was a perceived increase in productivity.
More than half of companies across all sectors except hospitality and tourism believe that hybrid working has had a positive impact on their organisation’s productivity. However, as our chart shows, the extent to which productivity gains are perceived varies greatly across sectors.
Percentage of respondents who believe hybrid working has had a positive impact on productivity, by sector:
Across the entire sample, 62% said hybrid working had increased productivity. However, the observed gains are largely dependent on the sector’s ability to transition to remote working with little or no disruption.
Industries that are less able to adopt a hybrid approach are more optimistic about the expected productivity gains. Hospitality and tourism are significantly less supportive of remote working, partly because hotels and restaurants rely on in-person service to operate and stand out.
It is also worth considering the feasibility of flexible working in the context of an economy’s competitiveness. Our research shows a clear link between a country’s level of hybrid work adoption and subsequent productivity gains.
Another important trend post-Covid has been the growing use of e-commerce in shopping.
B2B sectors are fully embracing the rapid growth of digital orders, payments, and documentation. Some 81% of engineering executives say they are more supportive of e-commerce, and similarly high levels of support can be found in IT, retail, real estate, automotive and aviation, energy, and manufacturing and distribution.
Our research reveals significant changes in how companies have organised their operations and workforces to cope with the impact of lockdowns and travel restrictions. The findings also open an intriguing chapter in the ongoing debate about whether hybrid working is now the ‘new normal’.
Read the original article on the Moore Global website: https://www.moore-global.com/intelligence/articles/november-2023/hybrid-working-boosts-business-efficiency
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