The future of Boston office work is hybrid
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Workers prefer to come into the office just once a week — a trend that's expanding as the hybrid work model goes mainstream, our Axios What's Next colleagues write.
By the numbers: Workplace occupancy data company Basking, which tracks workers' comings and goings, found 50% of workers globally who visited the office in the second quarter of 2022 did so only once a week.
- That's up from 44% the previous quarter, according to Bloomberg.
- The same report found that 15% fewer people are coming into the office four or five days a week compared to earlier this year.
Zoom in: Boston's office workers are no exception to the trend, and business groups are waiting to see how the workweek shakes out.
- "Employees are still thinking about what's best for them, and whether it settles in at one or three [days] is all still evolving," Massachusetts Business Roundtable executive director J.D. Chesloff told Axios.
The Business Roundtable surveyed member companies this spring, and found that 65% of the companies expect hybrid schedules to be "the new normal."
- 21% still have most of their workforce at home, down from 81% in 2021.
- More than a quarter of companies say they're mostly or fully back to work in-person.
Yes, but: Where Boston stands out compared to other cities is our large life sciences and medical industries, which tend to demand more in-person work.
The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council surveyed 121 life sciences employers last year and found that an average of 65% of employees were in research or laboratory roles that largely require them to be there in person.
- MassBio CEO Joe Boncore told Axios in an email that outside of research, expanding biomanufacturing companies are adding in-person jobs to the area.
What they're saying: The necessity of in-person work is not only beneficial for advancing science, Boncore said, but "it’s also been good for the areas and neighborhoods around life science campuses."