IWG: How Hybrid Working Can Help to Build a Better Future

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about a new approach to work and life that benefits both the planet and its people, IWG says. Lockdowns showcased how reduced commuting can significantly cut down on carbon emissions and pollution, and now companies across the world are making an increased strategic and financial commitment to sustainability: not just in terms of the climate emergency but also in the way that they interact with employees, customers and the wider community. The hybrid working model, IWG says, has the welfare of people, business and the planet at its heart.

As a result of the pandemic, there’s no doubt that sustainability is now very much front of mind for companies around the world – and they know this is something their customers expect,” said Mark Dixon, founder and chief executive of IWG. “At IWG, we believe that the adoption of a hybrid working model brings considerable sustainability benefits and can be a major pillar in any company’s ESG agenda. And it can also be the foundation of a new approach to work and life that benefits both the planet and its people.”

In 2019, Americans lost an average of 99 hours and $1,377 sitting in traffic congestion. Not only that, but a report by the UK’s Royal Society for Public Health in 2016 highlighted the health impacts of commuting by rail, bus or car, showing that longer commute times are associated with increased stress, higher blood pressure and BMI, and reduced time available for health-promoting activities such as exercising and sleeping.

Health and environmental benefits

With a hub-and-spoke model of work, in which employees have the opportunity to work in a satellite office close to their homes, good health and well-being are easier to achieve. Some benefits include no commuting, saving money, more time with family, less stress and more. Something as simple as spending more time with a pet can have a drastically positive impact on a person’s mental health, IWG notes.

But at the same time, many learned during the pandemic that a strict, work-from-home lifestyle also has its flaws. Many complained of a sense of isolation: those who live alone, in particular, can suffer from loneliness when their only contact with colleagues comes via a screen. The hub-and-spoke model offers a perfect solution to provide employees and employers with the best of both worlds.

The pandemic has proved disproportionately hard for women, but hybrid working potentially offers a future of more equal opportunities and a more equitable sharing of family responsibilities. According to McKinsey, women’s jobs were 1.8 times more vulnerable to the pandemic crisis than men’s. And while women make up 39% of global employment, they account for 54% of overall job losses. A recent study by the Economic Policy Institute found that black women were over 30% more likely to be out of work during the pandemic than white men.

The hybrid working model can play a key role in evening up the gender imbalance, IWG notes. In the hybrid working world, both parents can split household responsibilities, with men taking their fair share of picking up kids from school or caring for toddlers.

Our data shows that for women and men (especially caregivers), a hybrid workplace matters most – one that blends work and home and allows them autonomy to work in a way that suits them,” says Michelle Nettles of ManpowerGroup.

Reducing emissions and costs

Hybrid working can significantly reduce emissions, while downsizing offices means a reduced carbon footprint. Global Workplace Analytics has estimated that if all U.S. residents who could and wanted to work from home started doing so for half the week, it would be the greenhouse gas equivalent of taking the entire New York State workforce off the road.

Now, companies have an opportunity to truly make an impact on their environmental footprint. By adopting a hybrid working model with staff working partly from home or close to home, firms will not only cut down on carbon emissions by reducing commuting, but they will also be able to downsize their office headquarters, with a consequent reduction in energy use.

Hybrid working isn’t just good for mental health and the environment — it is also good for the wallet. According to Global Workplace Analytics, a typical employer can save around $11,000 yearly for every person who works remotely half the time. When multiplied across a whole organization, this can amount to a significant amount of cash.

Additionally, hybrid working can result in increased productivity across the board by combining the best of both worlds. Sometimes the home can be the best place to hunker down and really focus on a project, but if there are distractions such as children or other family members on hand, the quiet areas of a local flexspace are more appropriate. The collaborative hybrid office also allows employees to make up for that lack of face-time they may feel working from home.

Community development benefits

The benefits of hybrid working don’t just relate to the individual — the trend also has the potential to revitalize whole communities.

Big enterprises are moving away from relying on a single, central HQ and increasingly basing employees outside the major metropolitan hubs in flexspaces in what we’re calling ‘outer-city’ locations: smaller cities, towns and suburban locations,” says Dixon. “In the near future, we believe that there will be a professional workspace available everywhere – from the largest city to the smallest village. This transformation will unlock unprecedented value for workers, businesses and local economies while providing an important contribution to improving the environment.

With people working locally, local amenities and retail outlets will receive a boost, and new jobs will be created to service a national network of workspaces.”

The hub-and-spoke workspace model combined with hybrid working also plays a key role in developing the so-called ’15-Minute City’ — the idea that work, home, shops, entertainment, education and healthcare should all be within 15 minutes by foot or bicycle from where we live. According to IWG’s report on The Flex Economy, the economic and social benefits to local communities of new flexible workspaces are significant in terms of both job creation and value creation.

Overall, Dixon says, “It’s hard to argue with a strategy that helps to reduce carbon emissions, improves employee health and wellbeing, aids economic growth and makes local communities more sustainable.”