Hybrid working wellbeing benefits being overestimated

Employers are overestimating the health and wellbeing benefits of hybrid working, according to research that finds a disparity in how it is viewed by employers and employees.

Group Risk Development (GRiD), the industry body for the group risk sector, found that two-thirds (64%) of employers felt hybrid working had a positive impact on health and wellbeing, whereas 53% of employees said the same. This suggests that employers may be exaggerating the benefits to employees of splitting work between home and the office.

However, the results did not suggest that hybrid working was seen as detrimental to workers’ wellbeing. Just 6% of employers and 7% of employees said it had a negative impact.

Asked about how hybrid working had affected them, 68% of employees said it had improved their mental wellbeing. However, only 43% felt it benefited their physical wellbeing and around the same proportion said it had had a positive impact on their financial and social wellbeing (44% and 45% respectively).

GRiD’s spokesperson Katharine Moxham said the survey results showed employers had an exaggerated view of how hybrid work had benefited employees.

“It’s clearly the case that many do find it a positive experience but employers should be careful not to assume this is a panacea for everyone. It’s important to note that health and wellbeing support will still be required for everyone, and particularly for those who have found the change in working patterns more difficult to cope with,” she said.

Hybrid working should not be seen as a health and wellbeing benefit in itself, she added.

The survey, conducted by Opinium, involved 503 HR decision makers and 1,212 UK employees.

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