Shh – don’t tell anyone, but have you heard about ‘hushed hybrid’ remote working deals?
These are unofficial agreements that involve local managers signing off on individuals’ work arrangements that don’t follow official policy.
These deals are often done to retain staff in the current tight labour market where the competition for talent in certain sectors remains fierce.
‘Hushed hybrid’ arrangements are on the rise but HR experts are warning that they can be problematic and are advising managers to tread carefully.
The rise of ‘hushed hybrid’
Research from recruitment agency Robert Walters shows that more than 40% of Irish managers have said they would implement ‘hushed hybrid’ to allow their teams flexibility, despite increasing calls from bosses for staff to return to the office.
According to the study, pressures have mounted on managers to tow the line between employee expectations and demands from head office, especially as work-life balance continues to remain a top priority for staff.
The survey of 1,000 Irish professionals shows that 60% of respondents would stick to a lower-paying job if it offered greater flexibility, rather than switching jobs solely for better pay.
Almost half said that commuting times are a major factor when considering a new job.
“Hybrid-working has been a mainstay of working arrangements both globally and nationally since 2020 – however, over the last year we’ve noticed employers begin to turn their backs on this, and request their staff commit more days to the office,” said Suzanne Feeney, Country Manager at Robert Walters Ireland.
“We’re already noticing how an increasingly high cost-of-living, along with professionals being faced with longer commutes and travel disruptions directly influencing what they come to expect and value in employer offerings.
“Rather than firms engaging in traditional salary wars this year, we could see companies compete by ramping up travel subsidies, flexibility or allowing staff to commute in during off-peak periods to help counter rising costs,” Ms Feeney said.
‘Rent-a-crowd’ in the office
Grow Remote is an organisation that promotes remote working and also works with businesses on implementing remote working policies.
Co-founder Tracy Keogh said ‘hushed hybrid’ arrangements often happen when local managers feel they have been left with no choice but to offer flexibility or face losing staff.
“We’ve seen cases where senior leadership teams come down and visit local branches and there is a ‘rent-a-crowd’ situation when they try to call people back into the office for the day just so they can be present,” Ms Keogh said.
She believes that local managers are often the ones that understand the benefits of remote working, where as many senior leaders just want everyone back in the office, and that this is resulting a massive gap forming.
“Hushed hybrid arrangements weave dishonesty into the culture, that’s never going to be useful for anybody and it doesn’t help remote working.
“But really, for some managers, it’s a Catch 22 when it comes to keeping staff.”
“Businesses need to make a decision that they’re either all in or out when it comes to remote working and I think that everybody will benefit from that clarity.”
Ms Keogh said it isn’t all negative when it comes to ‘hushed hybrid’ deals.
“In one organisation that we were working with, when they found out that this was happening, they decided to go with it.
“They ran it as a pilot, benchmarked it and tracked changes in culture and productivity,” she said.
A fightback against ‘hushed hybrid’
But not every company is happy to embrace secret remote working deals.
Many Irish bosses are pushing back against ‘hushed hybrid’ arrangements according to research from CIPD, the professional body for the HR industry.
The figures showed a 10% jump in workplaces deciding at a more central level how flexible and remote policies should apply.
CIPD in Ireland Director Mary Connaughton said ‘hushed hybrid’ deals can pose problems.
“Managers who engage more regularly with employees often have an understanding of their individual needs and this can influence decisions around working arrangements,” Ms Connaughton said.
“However this can provoke dissatisfaction and even conflict among employees where some groups have to follow company policy more closely.
“It can also lead to inequalities, for example if parents are seen to benefit from more days working from home than those without caring responsibilities.
“Managers need to be briefed on how to explain the rationale for the company policy, the level of flexibility allowed, and how to deal with very real objections from employees,” she added.
The CIPD research also found that 28% of respondents said productivity is higher under hybrid conditions.
However, another 28% reported lower productivity where employees were fully remote.
15% of respondents said they increased the number of days on-site in 2024 and 11% said they plan to increase that figure this year.
Two thirds of organisations they have not, and don’t plan to, change the number of mandated days on-site.
Hybrid v fully remote
Despite some high profile return-to-office mandates at a number of companies, job flexibility remains an important part of recruiting talent in the current tight labour market where unemployment remains well below 5%.
The share of Irish job postings on hiring platform Indeed offering remote or hybrid work rose to a record high at the end of December 2024.
Indeed’s Jobs & Hiring Trends Report found that 17.5% of posting mentioned remote or hybrid, a level that is more than four times that recorded prior to the Covid pandemic.
The latest figures from hiring platform IrishJobs show that the proportion of hybrid working vacancies, as a share of total vacancies, has remained stable at 10.7% for the second successive quarter.
The proportion of fully remote vacancies has fallen by more than 80% since the high recorded in the third quarter of 2022.
The share of fully remote vacancies as a proportion of total vacancies was 2.3% in final quarter of last year, close to its lowest level since 2019.
According to IrishJobs, the findings indicate that fully remote work vacancies will remain stable at a relatively low, near pre-pandemic, level across 2025 and beyond.
“However, our analysis also reveals growing stability in the level of hybrid working vacancies offered by employers in Ireland, indicating this work model is likely to remain a feature of the labour market,” said Sam Dooley, Country Director of The Stepstone Group Ireland with responsibility for IrishJobs.
IrishJobs research also shows that nearly half of jobseekers would be willing to turn down opportunities that do not provide hybrid or fully remote working options.
Remote work in the public sector
Up to now, the remote working debate has very much centred on the private sector.
But it is also an issue for many Government employees.
Last month, a row erupted between the Fórsa trade union and the Department of Social Protection after it tried to increase the number of in-office days for remote working staff.
Fórsa had accused the department of acting unilaterally by trying to reduce the number of remote working days, without consulting with unions.
Some staff in the Department of Social Protection would have seen their in-office requirements increase from a minimum of one day a week to two days a week. Others would have seen their requirements rise from three days to four.
Fórsa had instructed its members to continue working their current arrangements and had warned that it was prepared to engage in a protective ballot for industrial action, should any members be threatened with disciplinary action for complying with the union instruction.
The department said it was disappointed by the approach being taken by Fórsa and insisted that it had shared its plans with unions.
It also said that a provision for up to three days working from home in any week is considered reasonable, is in line with arrangements in other Government departments and is provided for within the wider Civil Service Framework agreement.
In the end, a compromise has been reached and staff can continue working their current arrangements pending further talks.
It was a stark reminder however of the importance of remote working to staff and a reminder that many are willing to fight to keep it.
The year ahead will bring more remote working battles in both the private and public sectors and there will be nothing ‘hushed’ about the rows that are to come.
