In-Office, Remote, or Hybrid Work: Which One is Best?

In-Office Work

The Good

In-office work offers many benefits that are intangible via remote work. Among these are social and interpersonal relationships that help drive a successful business.

Even with today’s advanced technology, there is simply no replacement for face-to-face communication. When everyone works together in the office, coordinating and communicating effectively is much easier.

For example, in-person workers don’t have to schedule Zoom meetings or write lengthy email chains for every point of discussion. Instead, they can walk over to their co-worker’s desks and get things done in the moment. This creates an immediacy to your workflows, which is good for managers who are hands-on or insecure about productivity.

Some employees also enjoy the communal aspect of in-person work. Humans are social creatures by nature, so interacting with colleagues daily is a major plus—especially for the extroverted among us. The more your organization embraces company culture through social events and physical benefits (lunch, gym, happy hour, etc.), the more an in-office work system will pay off.

The Bad

Some strengths of in-office work also contribute to its weaknesses. In order to work in person, you first have to get to the office. That means a commute, which is the bane of many employees’ existence. Getting up early, preparing lunch, sitting in traffic, waiting for the elevator, avoiding road rage, etc., are all obstacles workers must navigate every time they go to the office.

The rigidity of in-office work also restricts your employees' lifestyle. It isn’t just about sitting in traffic for two hours a day; it’s about missing out on the other things you could do with that time. This restrictive nature of in-office work can feel limiting and contribute to burnout, which may lead to less productivity.

In fact, surveys show that many people are actually more productive and put in more hours when they work from home. Strictly in-office work may counter-intuitively lead to poorer results and stop your team from succeeding.

The Ugly

One hundred percent in-office work is slowly disappearing in some white-collar industries, at least if current trends continue. Workers are demanding at least some form of remote work, putting managers in a challenging position. If friends and acquaintances of your team are doing the same work from home, employees probably realize they can work remotely elsewhere. Sticking with a strictly in-office system across the board risks driving exceptional talent or potential employees to the competition.

Read More: Back to the Office Incentives: The Culture Your Employees Want

Remote Work

The Good

The growing popularity of remote work suggests it’s a framework many people love. With remote work, gone are the days of getting ready for the day and commuting to the office. Why put in all that effort when you don’t have to? Many workers prefer to get things done in sweatpants on their sofas.

Remote work offers several advantages, like flexibility, less stress, and increased comfort. It allows people to get their work done on their own schedule and build their work around their personal lives rather than the other way around.

If you want to clock out and take your dog on a walk or get work done early, you can do that on a remote schedule. It turns out, it doesn’t particularly matter when and where people work as long as they stay productive and get things done.

So far, surveys suggest remote work implementation has been highly successful, with satisfaction levels reaching as high as 83% among employers.

The Bad

Because of the physical distance, remote workers are theoretically empowered with more independence. They say with great power comes great responsibility, yet managers aren’t quite willing to surrender that responsibility. A new industry is forming around keeping remote workers in the folds of an organization despite their newfound freedom.

That means investing in technology solutions that make remote work realistic from a management perspective. You’ll need to buy communication systems to allow your team to stay in touch, task management systems to keep people on track, and software that enables people to perform their jobs outside of the office.

At the extreme end, many companies opt to install monitoring systems that track every click and keystroke or take pictures/record remote workers via webcam.

The Ugly

Managers may not know what their remote workers are really up to. For example, crafty remote workers are cheating the system with bots that jiggle their mouse to make it appear like they’re working when they’re actually watching Netflix. The boldest will take multiple remote jobs simultaneously to rack up massive paychecks.

In the long run, you may end up paying people for hours in which they accomplish little work. Remote work creates more opportunities for you to be taken advantage of, and the paranoid measures you implement to avoid such an outcome may backfire by negating the benefits people like about remote work in the first place.

Read More: Tips for Managing Remote Employees

Hybrid Work

The Good

Hybrid work presents a win-win solution by giving employees many of the benefits of a remote work system while tethering them to the office. This reduces some drawbacks of in-office work, like daily commutes, while maintaining some benefits, like company culture. Best of all, there’s nothing stopping anyone from working five days a week in-office or scheduling additional in-person workdays when needed, since all that infrastructure will already be there.



Your team likely doesn’t need to be in the office every day. So in the short term, hybrid work will probably be the most common option across many fields. Your company risks being left behind if you don’t consider giving people the opportunity to work from home at least two days a week.

The Bad

While remote work is a great middle ground, being in the middle isn’t always the best place to be. Hybrid workers can leave some workers unsatisfied. If they can do most of their work from home, why not all the time? Hybrid work gives workers the taste of freedom without letting them fully enjoy the benefits.

The Ugly

While hybrid work negates many of the problems associated with in-person and remote work, it doesn’t eliminate them. You might have all the same issues of both systems, only 50% of the time respectively. That means you’ll still have to invest in remote monitoring & communication tech, and your employees will still have to go through a grueling commute. Hybrid work is probably the most expensive option for employers and still presents many of the same risks associated with fully remote schedules.

Read More: 30 Employee Perk Ideas to Attract and Retain Employees

Ultimately, the decision between in-person, remote, and hybrid work will largely depend on the nuances of your team and the specific jobs in consideration. For positions in the middle of the spectrum, we recommend a hybrid work strategy, as this schedule gives employees and managers the best of both worlds.

But for some opportunities, it is much better to go all-in on a remote or in-person strategy. For example, a machinist can’t shape sheet metal over the internet. Other positions, like human resources, are easily and effectively performed remotely at a much lower cost.

Let Nexus HR Manage Your HR Responsibilities Remotely

Take advantage of all the benefits of remote work with none of the drawbacks! From payroll and recruiting to complete HR services, Nexus HR offers the HR solutions you need for a fraction of the cost of an in-house employee. Nexus HR is leading the remote revolution and bringing the savings straight to your pocketbook.