Who has access to hybrid work in Great Britain?

• More than a quarter (28%) of working adults in Great Britain hybrid worked between January and March 2025; the proportion of hybrid workers has gradually risen since March 2022, but those who only travel to work has declined.

• Workers with a "degree or equivalent" qualification were 10 times more likely to hybrid work than those with no qualifications.

• The proportion of workers engaged in hybrid work increased with higher income bands.

• Hybrid work was more common among residents in less deprived areas in England than those in more deprived areas.

• Full-time workers were more likely to hybrid work than part-time workers.

• The hybrid working arrangement was more common among employees than self-employed workers.

• Workers aged between 30 to 49 years were the most likely to hybrid work.

Our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) asks workers about their working patterns in the previous seven days. We use this survey to monitor how working arrangements changed during and after coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic restrictions. Data used here were collected between May 2020 and March 2025.

Hybrid working in Great Britain has become more common since the early days of pandemic. More than a quarter of workers in Great Britain (28%) were hybrid workers between 8 January and 30 March 2025.

A hybrid-working model, which involves travelling to work part of the time and working at home part of the time, has become the "new normal" for more than one in four workers. We have asked adults the same question about their working arrangement since March 2022. We ask about where they have worked in the last week as a snapshot, to measure both regular and irregular patterns. The proportion of hybrid workers has risen, whereas those who travel to work only has declined. The trend in those working solely from home has remained broadly constant. This indicates a shift from full-time, office-based work to the hybrid-working pattern.

Figure 1: The proportion of workers engaged in hybrid working has increased since the early days of COVID-19 pandemic

Percentage of working adults by working arrangement, Great Britain, May 2020 to March 2025

Notes

1. The length of each data collection period presented in this time series may be different.

2. A fourth category 'employed but didn't work' is not included in the chart. The sum of all four categories is 100%.

While hybrid work has become more widespread in recent years, the uptake of this working pattern differs by demography. Managers, directors and senior officials, those in professional occupations, and those with childcare responsibilities were the most likely to hybrid work, as highlighted in our previous Who are the hybrid workers? article. The trends in parents with childcare responsibilities and those in professional occupations have remained largely unchanged since our previous article.

Figure 2: Hybrid working was most common among workers with a "degree or equivalent" qualification

Proportion of working adults by highest level of educational qualification and working arrangement, Great Britain, 8 January to 30 March 2025

Notes:

1. A fourth category 'employed but didn't work' is not included in the chart. The sum of all four categories is 100%.

Workers with a "degree or equivalent" were 10 times more likely to hybrid work than those with no qualifications (41%, compared with 4%, respectively). They were also twice as likely to adopt this working pattern than those in the "below degree level" category (21%).

Adults in the IT and "professional, scientific and technical" industries were some of the most likely to adopt hybrid working, as shown in our previous article on hybrid working. By contrast, workers in industries such as retail, construction, or hospitality were the least likely to hybrid work.

Almost 9 out of 10 workers with a "degree or equivalent" worked in one of four occupation groups:

• managers, directors and senior officials

• professional occupations

• associate professional occupations

• administrative and secretarial occupations

These were also the top four occupation groups where hybrid work was most common, which may give those who hold these educational qualifications greater access to hybrid work.

Figure 3: Workers in higher income bands were more likely to hybrid and homework than those in lower income bands

Proportion of working adults by income band and working arrangement, Great Britain, 8 January to 30 March 2025

Notes:

1. A fourth category 'employed but didn't work' is not included in the chart. The sum of all four categories is 100%.

The proportion of hybrid workers and those working from home only increased by income band. Almost half (45%) of workers with an income of £50,000 or more hybrid worked, compared with only 8% of those with an income of under £20,000 between January and March 2025.

High-earning positions often involve roles that can be performed remotely, such as managerial and professional jobs. Those with an income of £50,000 or more were more likely to hybrid work than those under £20,000 in each of the top four occupation groups where hybrid work was most common:

• managers, directors and senior officials (56%, compared with 26%, respectively)

• professional occupations (46%, compared with 20%, respectively)

• associate professional occupations (44%, compared with 23%, respectively)

• administrative and secretarial occupations (60%, compared with 14%, respectively)

Higher earners tend to have higher levels of education, which could give them greater access to roles involving hybrid and remote working. Workers with an income of £50,000 or more were four times more likely to have a "degree or equivalent" qualification than those earning £20,000 or less.

Figure 4: Disabled workers were less likely to hybrid work than non-disabled workers

Proportion of working adults by disability status and working arrangement, Great Britain, 8 January to 30 March 2025

Notes:

1. A fourth category 'employed but didn't work' is not included in the chart. The sum of all four categories is 100%.

Disabled workers (24%) were less likely than non-disabled workers (29%) to hybrid work between January and March 2025. They were also more likely to be in lower income bands. Around a third (34%) of disabled workers had an income of under £20,000, compared with almost a quarter (23%) for those without a disability. More than a quarter (27%) of non-disabled workers had an income greater than £50,000, which is around double that of disabled workers (14%).

Disabled workers were less likely to hybrid work in several occupations where this working pattern was most common. For example, workers were most likely to hybrid work in the "managers, directors and senior officials" occupation. However, only around a third (30%) of disabled workers hybrid worked in this occupation, compared with 48% for non-disabled workers.

It was also less common for disabled workers to travel to work only, compared with non-disabled workers. Disabled workers were less likely to travel to work in several occupations where this working pattern was most common, such as skilled trades and "caring, leisure and other services".

Figure 5: Hybrid work was more common among workers living in less deprived areas compared with deprived areas

Proportion of working adults by Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile and working arrangement, England, 8 January to 30 March 2025

Notes:

1. A fourth category 'employed but didn't work' is not included in the chart. The sum of all four categories is 100%.

Workers living in the least deprived areas of England were more likely to hybrid work than those in the most deprived areas. They were also less likely to travel to work only. Almost a third (32%) of workers in the least deprived Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintile were hybrid workers, compared with 24% in the most deprived IMD quintile between January and March 2025.

Workers living in deprived areas tend to have lower levels of educational qualifications, compared with those in less deprived areas. This limits their access to hybrid-working roles. A third (33%) of workers in the most deprived IMD quintile had a "degree or equivalent" qualification, compared with more than two-fifths (44%) in the least deprived quintile.

Workers living in deprived areas are more likely to work in elementary occupations such as street cleaners, shelf fillers, and bar staff. This means they have less access to hybrid- and remote-working positions. Around a tenth (11%) of workers in the most deprived quintile were in elementary occupations, compared with 6% in the least deprived quintile.

Employees (30%) were more likely to hybrid work than self-employed workers (24%) between January and March 2025. However, working from home only was more common for self-employed workers than for employees.

Hybrid work was more common among full-time workers (34%) than adults in part-time jobs (18%). Almost three-quarters (73%) of full-time workers were in the top four occupational groups where hybrid working was most common. In contrast, only half of part-time workers were in those four occupational groups.

Figure 6: Workers aged 30 to 49 years were most likely to be involved in hybrid work

Proportion of working adults by age group and working arrangement, Great Britain, 8 January to 30 March 2025

Notes:

1. A fourth category 'employed but didn't work' is not included in the chart. The sum of all four categories sum to 100%.

Around a third (36%) of those aged 30 to 49 years were hybrid workers between January and March 2025. This compared with 19% for younger workers (aged 16 to 29 years) and 24% for older workers (aged 50 to 69 years).

Those aged 30 to 49 years were more likely to be in occupations where hybrid work is more common. For example, the hybrid-working pattern was most common in the "managers, directors and senior officials" occupation group. Over 1 in 10 (12%) workers aged 30 to 49 years were involved in this occupation, compared with only 3% of those aged 16 to 29 years.

Those aged 16 to 29 years were least likely to engage in hybrid work of the three age bands. They were often involved in occupations where hybrid work is less common. For example, hybrid work was least common in elementary occupations. Of workers aged 16 to 29 years, 15% were involved in this occupation, compared with only 5% of those aged 30 to 49 years.

Workers aged 50 to 69 years were less likely to hybrid work than those aged 30 to 49 years. They were also more likely to work part-time, be disabled, and not have a "degree or equivalent" qualification, as shown in our accompanying dataset.

Working arrangement

Working arrangement is a measure we derive from the questions that we ask all employed adults: "In the past seven days, have you worked from home?" and "In the past seven days, have you travelled to work?". We exclude from this analysis any respondents who answered "Don't know" or "Prefer not to say" to either of these questions.

We classify respondents as:

• hybrid workers, if they answered "Yes" to both questions

• working from home only, if they answered "Yes" to the question "In the past seven days, have you worked from home?" but "No" to the question "In the past seven days, have you travelled to work?"

• travelling to work only, if they answered "Yes" to the question "In the past seven days, have you travelled to work?" but "No" to the question "In the past seven days, have you worked from home?"

• "employed but didn't work", if they answered "No" to both questions

Disability status

To define disability, we refer to the Government Statistical Service (GSS) harmonised "core" definition of disability. This identifies someone as "disabled" if they have a physical or mental health condition or illness that has lasted, or is expected to last, 12 months or more, that reduces their ability to carry out day-to-day activities. Respondents are asked the GSS harmonised questions in the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) survey, meaning that disability status is self-reported.

Parental status

In the OPN, an adult is defined as a parent if they are the parent of a dependent child living in the household. In this case, dependent children include children and stepchildren.

A dependent child is someone aged under 16 years, or someone who is aged 16 to 18 years, has never been married, and is in full-time education.

Deprivation

Deprivation is represented by the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) (PDF, 2.2MB) and is the official measure of relative deprivation for small areas in England. The IMD ranks every small area in England from 1 (most deprived area) to 32,844 (least deprived area).

Deciles are calculated by ranking the 32,844 small areas in England from most deprived to least deprived and dividing them into 10 equal groups. These range from the most deprived 10 percent of small areas nationally to the least deprived 10 percent of small areas nationally. To ensure robust sample sizes, we have further grouped deciles into quintiles.

Personal annual income

Personal annual gross income is self-reported and should be treated with caution. A respondent’s income information does not represent equivalised household income. Equivalised household income takes into account all income from all household members and adjusts for that fact that households with more people will need a higher income to achieve the same standard of living as households with fewer members.

Personal annual gross income includes all income received from a range of sources, including earnings from employment and self-employment, pension, benefits and interest from savings, investments, and property.

Highest qualification

Highest education level is defined in GOV.UK's What qualification levels mean webpage. This refers to the level of the highest qualification obtained by a respondent when they were initially surveyed by the OPN. We have grouped qualifications to make analysis and communications easier and to produce robust estimates based on sample sizes. These groups are:

• degree or equivalent (level 6 or higher qualification obtained anywhere)

• below degree level (including GCSEs, A level, or equivalent)

• other qualification obtained in the UK not included in the other categories, or any qualification obtained outside the UK that is not a degree

• none (no formal qualifications)

Occupation

Occupation is self-reported on the OPN and should be treated with caution.

The Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) is a common classification of occupational information for the UK. It classifies jobs by their skill level and content into the following nine major groups:

• managers, directors and senior officials

• professional occupations

• associate professional occupations

• administrative and secretarial occupations

• skilled trades occupations

• caring, leisure and other service occupations

• sales and customer service occupations

• process, plant and machine operatives

• elementary occupations

For further information on the SOC, please refer to our Extended SOC 2020 classifications guide.

The analysis in this article is based on workers aged 16 years and over in Great Britain.

Between 8 January to 30 March 2025, we sampled 28,049 households. This sample was randomly selected from adults who had previously completed our Labour Market Survey (LMS) or Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN). The responding sample for the latest period contained 11,894 individuals, which is a 42% response rate. This article is based on the 5,494 adults who said they worked in a paid job as an employee or self-employed, did any casual work for payment, or did any unpaid or voluntary work.

We applied survey weights to make estimates representative of the population, based on our population estimates. Estimates for some groups of the population may be subject to greater uncertainty because of smaller sample sizes for these groups (for example, younger adults).

We provide confidence intervals for all estimates in the datasets. Where comparisons between estimates are made, associated confidence intervals should be used to assess the statistical significance of the differences. In some cases, we performed additional statistical hypothesis testing to identify differences between groups.

Further information on the survey design and quality can be found in our Opinions and Lifestyle Survey quality and methodology information (QMI).