South SFV Today

A recent study led by Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford economist, reveals that hybrid work schedules benefit both employees and employers. The study, published in the journal Nature, involved an experiment with over 1,600 workers at Trip.com, one of the world's largest online travel agencies. It found that employees working from home two days a week were as productive and likely to be promoted as their office-based peers.

The research also showed a significant reduction in employee turnover. Resignations dropped by 33% among those who adopted a hybrid schedule, particularly benefiting women, non-managers, and employees with long commutes. Trip.com estimates that this reduction in attrition saved the company millions of dollars.

“The results are clear: Hybrid work is a win-win-win for employee productivity, performance, and retention,” said Bloom, who is the William D. Eberle Professor of Economics at Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and a senior fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR).

The findings come at a time when approximately 100 million workers worldwide engage in hybrid work each week. However, some business leaders like Elon Musk and Jamie Dimon argue against remote work, citing potential drawbacks such as diminished training opportunities and weakened company culture.

Bloom contends that critics often confuse hybrid work with fully remote arrangements. He notes that most research on remote work has focused on fully remote positions, which tend to show mixed results. In contrast, his study is one of the few randomized control trials examining hybrid work arrangements.

“This study offers powerful evidence for why 80% of U.S. companies now offer some form of remote work,” Bloom stated. “And for why the remaining 20% of firms that don’t are likely paying a price.”

The study's co-authors include Ruobing Han from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and James Liang from Peking University. Both Han and Liang earned their PhDs in economics from Stanford.

Trip.com did not have a hybrid policy before undertaking the six-month experiment starting in 2021. The participants included 395 managers and 1,217 non-managers from its Shanghai office working in engineering, marketing, accounting, and finance roles.

The researchers used various data sources to assess performance reviews and promotions up to two years post-experiment. They also compared computer code quality between hybrid and full-time office software engineers.

The study found no negative impact on productivity or career advancement due to hybrid work while significantly boosting retention rates among non-managers.

Bloom highlighted misconceptions held by both workers and managers regarding hybrid work's impact on productivity. Initially skeptical managers changed their views positively by the end of the experiment.

“If managed right," Bloom concluded, "letting employees work from home two or three days a week still gets you the level of mentoring, culture-building, and innovation that you want."

Following these findings, Trip.com has adopted a company-wide hybrid work policy.

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