Home vs office: What is the best hybrid work mix for workers?

Most US employees on average want to work from home at least two days per week after the pandemic ends, research finds.

After more than 18 months at home, workers worldwide have started to trickle back to the office. The “great return,” however, has been slow. Plans have been delayed and confusion has set in as companies navigate local COVID rules, concerns over the Delta variant, and employees’ needs and expectations.

Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon earlier this year called work from home an “aberration.” JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon took a similar tone, saying he was “done with” Zoom meetings. The major banks were among the first to begin bringing their workers back to the office, at least on a rotational or part-time basis.

Microsoft, meanwhile, postponed its return indefinitely last month amid a surge of COVID-19 cases, saying it will instead focus on a site-by-site approach. Others, including Facebook, Twitter and PricewaterhouseCoopers have announced they’ll allow many employees who can (and want to) to work from home permanently.