A three-day hybrid work week is a winning solution, according to a study published in Nature.

• A three-day in-office schedule for knowledge professionals is as effective as fully in-office work, according to the largest study to date.
• Despite a decline in resignations by as much as one-third, employee performance and satisfaction remain equal to or better than the traditional pre-Covid work schedule.
• A research study on work at Trip.com's Shanghai office was conducted by Stanford University researcher Nicholas Bloom, along with Chinese co-authors.

A study in Nature journal found that the three-day in-office hybrid work schedule is a "win-win-win."

Nick Bloom from Stanford's Institute for Economic Policy Research, a renowned expert on work modes who has been studying remote productivity since before the pandemic, presented evidence supporting the advantages of hybrid work in a study.

Previously, Bloom has advocated for hybrid work to benefit both employees and employers, and continues to advise employers to provide more flexible work arrangements as more companies bring employees back to the office.

The study by Bloom and co-authors, Ruobing Han and James Liang, is the largest to date on the benefits of hybrid work among university-trained professionals, and the first to use a randomized control trial structure, considered the "gold standard" in experimental design. It involved 1,612 employees at Trip.com, a multinational Chinese technology firm, and took place across six months to analyze job retention, satisfaction, productivity, and development. The study used a two-day-at-home work week because it is the primary structure for the 70% of global employees working on a hybrid schedule. Bloom estimates that about 100 million employees worldwide now have some form of a hybrid schedule, many in knowledge worker roles.

According to the data, the three-day in-office hybrid work approach led to increased retention and satisfaction among employees, and resulted in equal success for both creative and team-oriented employees in functions such as marketing, finance, and engineering, which frequently offer hybrid work arrangements.

The rate of non-manager attrition for hybrid employees was 2.4%, a 33% reduction from the control group's 7.2%. Women, non-managers, and long-distance commuters were more likely to stay in their job roles with the hybrid arrangement, supporting the idea that reducing long commutes, decreasing household stress, and improving work-life balance can improve retention. However, women were less likely to volunteer for the hybrid arrangement and feared workplace judgement, according to the study.

Hybrid employees reported higher anonymous self-reported scores on work-life balance and life satisfaction, were more likely to recommend the workplace to others, and had lower scores in "reasons to quit" on measures of employee satisfaction.

In 2021, Trip.com launched a six-month experiment with 395 managers and 1,217 non-managers who had undergraduate degrees in engineering, marketing, accounting, and finance at the company's Shanghai office. About one-third (32%) of the participants also had post-graduate degrees, mainly in computer science, accounting, or finance. Most participants were in their 30s, half had children, and the majority (65%) were male.

As the Covid pandemic comes to an end, executives have expressed concerns about declines in employee productivity, creativity/innovation, and have mandated a full return-to-office in some cases. Companies such as Boeing, UPS, Nike, and JPMorgan Chase have implemented stricter return-to-office policies. Several factors may contribute to these decisions, including the belief in the value of traditional office culture, safety concerns, and a decline in stock prices. Nike's CEO has attributed a lack of innovation at the company to work-from-home, while JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has long been opposed to an overemphasis on remote work, especially for management roles. However, he has allowed that some functions may be effective remotely.

A University of Pittsburgh study suggests that struggling companies may use the remote work argument as a scapegoat and advocate for in-person collaboration as a crucial element of productive workplaces. This study shows that a hybrid schedule does not affect performance.

In the study, there was no significant difference between hybrid and in-person employee performance reviews. In nine categories of performance, including execution and results, hybrid employees performed equally. Even in soft skills, such as innovation, hybrid employees were equally successful. In terms of computer engineering, there was no significant difference between hybrid and in-person employees in the number of lines of code submitted each day, a critical performance measure.

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, who strongly supported remote work during the pandemic, has now asked employees to return to the office three days a week.

At the conclusion of the experiment, managers perceived hybrid work as a valuable addition to the company's productivity, rather than a hindrance.

"According to Bloom, this study provides compelling evidence for why 80% of U.S. companies offer remote work and why the remaining 20% of firms that don't are likely to suffer consequences. Allowing employees to work from home two or three days a week can still provide the necessary mentoring, culture-building, and innovation. From an economic policymaking perspective, hybrid work is one of the few instances where there are no significant trade-offs with clear winners and clear losers. Almost everyone benefits."