By end of 2023, 39% of knowledge workers will work in hybrid mode: Gartner

The number of knowledge workers working in a hybrid mode (working from office at least once a week) will rise to 39% by the end of 2023, according to market research firm Gartner. This percentage is up from 37% in 2022. Knowledge workers include professionals like programmers, engineers, architects, lawyers, and scientists, among others.

Gartner further said that the number of remote workers will continue to fall year-over-year, and by the end of 2023, such employees will represent only 9% of the total.

“Hybrid is no longer just an employee perk but an employee expectation. Many employees started to partially return to the office in 2022, but the hybrid workstyle will remain prominent in 2023 and beyond. To adapt, employers have been implementing a human-centric work design – including flexibility, intentional collaboration and empathy-based management – which suits hybrid employees,” said Ranjit Atwal, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner. 

All the countries have increased their proportion of hybrid and fully remote work since 2019, but the extent varies depending on the country, Gartner said. For example, in Japan, the number of fully remote and hybrid working employees is 29% of the total workforce in 2023. For places like Germany, the UK, and the US, the numbers are 49%, 67%, and 71% respectively. 

As per Christopher Trueman, Senior Principal Analyst at Gartner, for remote-first and hybrid organisations, fully mature virtual workspaces will become the centre of digital employee experience. These workspaces would be used for meetings and interactions for brainstorming, product reviews, and social gathering. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 10% of workers will use virtual spaces for a range of activities like sales, onboarding, and remote working.

Gartner’s report also said that compared to other functions, IT employees are more likely to quit their jobs in exchange for better work-life balance and better career opportunities. In such cases, companies could improve retention of talent by resetting employee value proposition with a more humane deal, Gartner said in its report.