Does hybrid working always increase equality and inclusion?

Technology may have provided the tools required to work from home during lockdown, but leading tech firms seem reluctant to embrace the hybrid working revolution.

Amazon is the latest corporate giant to lock horns with hybrid workers by ordering them back to the office five days a week, following Elon Musk’s similar stance at X (formerly Twitter).

Return-to-office mandates have been a key theme of discussion in boardrooms throughout 2024.

On one hand, hybrid working can benefit productivity and employee wellbeing. On the other, it poses challenges for innovation, collaboration, and career development for junior employees.

But what does it mean for underrepresented and underprivileged groups? Does hybrid working always improve equality and inclusion? Or is the reality more complex?

Ghadeer Al-Seragi is a Warwick Business School (WBS) alum and the equality, diversity and inclusion manager at Breast Cancer Now. She finds hybrid working invaluable as a single parent.

“When my children were younger, I had to choose – work nine to five in the office and outsource my caring responsibilities or find a more flexible role that was compatible with them,” she said.

“But there are companies that jump aboard the hybrid train without doing the due diligence to make it successful.

“There are effective practices that can boost productivity and encourage innovation for everyone – not just for specific groups such as neurodivergent employees.

“For example, when I go into the office, I choose a desk in a quieter corner to minimise visual and auditory distractions. I also schedule meetings on those days to maximise collaboration with the team, reserving focused work for when I’m working from home.”

The benefits of hybrid working for staff

It is easy to see how hybrid working could benefit certain groups. Neurodivergent employees – up to one-fifth of the workforce – might thrive away from the distractions of a busy office.

The ReWAGE report by the Warwick Institute for Employment Research argues that it could also improve gender equality in the workplace.

Women remain disproportionately more likely to bear the main burden of childcare, and hybrid working can help them to fit work commitments around the school run or caring responsibilities.

However, this may come at the expense of their free time, rather than accelerating the shift towards more equal gender roles in family and domestic life.

Can hybrid working leave staff feeling isolated?

Hybrid working may be less helpful for other under-represented groups.

Sue Baines is a business consultant and former Transformation Director at Barclays, where she co-chaired the bank’s Lesbian, Gay, Transgender, and Bisexual Employee Resource Group.

She participated in a WBS panel discussion about whether or not hybrid working fosters inclusion.

“For some minority groups, a real sense of isolation grew as a consequence of not having face-to-face office time during the pandemic. We saw that particularly within the LGBT community.

“We shouldn’t forget that, for many colleagues, the office might feel like the only place they can be their true selves as companies have strived to create inclusive workplaces. They may have to hide who they are at home, because family members disagree with their sexual orientation.”

Hybrid working also has the potential to reinforce or exacerbate social inequalities.

When might hybrid working increase inequality?

The ReWAGE report notes that professional women are more likely to take advantage of hybrid working and childcare support to create a more inclusive working environment.

However, working-class women in lower-skilled jobs are more likely to reduce their working hours. This could increase income inequality and reinforce the class divide.

Hybrid working should not be viewed as an easy fix to the challenges that less privileged groups, such as disabled workers, often face.

WBS research found that, before the pandemic, disabled employees were 34 per cent less likely to be offered hybrid working arrangements than non-disabled workers – partly because they were less likely to have higher-paid or managerial roles where homeworking was more widely available.

Disabled workers also found hybrid working no more beneficial to their mental health and job satisfaction than their colleagues did.

After all, they still had to navigate inaccessible public transport networks several times each week.

They might also struggle to secure the adjustments they need in two separate working locations.

As a result, WBS researchers concluded that, while some disabled workers may find hybrid working helpful, it is unlikely to close the disability employment gap.

Why is autonomous working better than hybrid work?

Lizzie Penny, CEO and co-founder of culture transformation agency Hoxby and a guest lecturer at WBS, believes there is a better solution.

“Hybrid working does not foster inclusion, because fundamentally it’s built on the belief that ‘fair’ means treating everyone the same at work,” she said.

“We believe that being fair involves treating everyone as individuals. That’s why we see autonomous working as the future rather than hybrid working.”

“There are lots of benefits to being together physically, but it has to be optional.

“There are large groups that will be excluded from the workforce – and higher-paid jobs – if we insist on some form of physical attendance.”

In their book Workstyle: A Revolution for Wellbeing, Productivity and Society, Lizzie and her co-author Alex Hirst identify seven groups that are structurally excluded from work by outdated practices.

Allowing staff to choose where they work best

They are older people, those with chronic illnesses, those with disabilities, those with mental health challenges, neurodivergent people, parents, and carers.

The autonomous approach they put forward hinges on creating trust-based working cultures that allow employees to choose where and when they work.

“The crucial thing is not to confuse Workstyle with existing notions of flexible working,” said Lizzie.

“Flexing a little bit, around an outdated system that is grounded in the industrial age, is not enough.

“If the prevailing way of working is still nine to five, five days a week, then anyone who works differently is seen as special or different in some way. They are part of the ‘out group’.

“That approach isn’t creating inclusion; it isn’t closing those employment gaps fast enough.

“By embracing a new philosophy, instead of prescribing a new way of working, we can create a more inclusive approach that is a source of competitive advantage for organisations.

“Not only can you recruit and retain exceptional talent, but it also creates collective intelligence by bringing diverse groups of people together.

"Integrating them in a way that enables them to voice their authentic opinions on any issue can produce better outcomes.”

Further reading:

How to build and manage a hybrid team

How to be successful starting out as a remote worker

Who will benefit from AI in the workplace and who will lose out?

How can employers avoid the great resignation?

Learn more about the Future of Work by subscribing to our free Core Insights newsletter.