100+ Hybrid Work Statistics and Trends 2026, With a 51-Country Hybrid Work Law Tracker
The latest figures on who works hybrid, how many office days employers now require, what badge data shows and what the research says about quits and output. Built from 53 published sources, including the BLS, Eurostat, Gallup and peer-reviewed studies, plus our own check of hybrid work law in 51 countries.
Six numbers that define hybrid work in 2026
Three come from our own tracker of hybrid work law. The other three come from the strongest official and peer-reviewed sources available.
countries give every employee a legal right to request remote or hybrid work. 33 more limit that right to parents, carers or other groups.
countries require employers to pay or reimburse home-working costs, including 15 of the 27 EU states.
countries have all four hybrid work rules we tracked: Portugal and Peru.
of remote-capable US employees worked hybrid in August 2026, while 25% were fully remote and 21% fully on-site.
In a randomized trial of 1,612 Trip.com employees, two home days a week cut quits by a third with no difference in performance reviews or promotions.
of US workers teleworked or worked at home for pay in September 2026, down from a peak of 23.8% in October 2024.
Hybrid work statistics at a glance: the 24 numbers that matter
Each figure shows its period and source. Use Copy to take the sentence with its source attached.
How many people work hybrid
54% of remote-capable US employees worked hybrid in August 2026, against 25% fully remote and 21% fully on-site.Gallup, Aug 2026
21.9% of US workers teleworked or worked at home for pay in September 2026, down from a peak of 23.8% in October 2024.US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CPS, Sep 2026
26.8% of paid workdays in the US were worked from home in September 2026.WFH Research (SWAA), Sep 2026
23.0% of employed people in the EU usually or sometimes worked from home in 2025, up from 22.6% in 2024.Eurostat, 2025
28% of working adults in Great Britain worked hybrid in the first quarter of 2025.Office for National Statistics, Jan to Mar 2025
What employers now require
62% of organizations required a fixed number of office days in 2026, up from 49% a year earlier.JLL Global Occupancy Planning Benchmark, 2026
66% of organizations had office policies of three or more days a week in 2026, up from 49% in 2023.CBRE Global Workplace and Occupancy Insights, 2026
45% of Fortune 100 companies required four or five office days in Q3 2025, while 35% ran a three-day hybrid schedule.Flex Index, Q3 2025
67% of US companies with fewer than 500 employees were fully flexible on work location, against 11% of enterprises with 25,000 or more.Flex Index, Q3 2025
Hybrid workers spent 46% of their workweek on-site in 2026, up from 42% in 2022.Gallup, 2026
What badge and space data show
US office occupancy reached 56.3% in the week of 8 December 2025, the highest weekly average since early 2020.Kastle Systems, Dec 2025
Average office utilization rose to 53% in 2026, from 38% in 2024 and 35% in 2023.CBRE Global Workplace and Occupancy Insights, 2026
Office space per person fell to 158 square feet in 2026, from 172 square feet in 2024.CBRE Global Workplace and Occupancy Insights, 2026
US office vacancy stood at 19.8% in the third quarter of 2026, down 25 basis points on the year.Cushman and Wakefield, Q3 2026
What the research shows
Two home days a week cut quits by a third in a randomized trial of 1,612 Trip.com employees, with no difference in performance reviews or promotions.Bloom, Han and Liang, Nature, 2024
Abnormal turnover rose 13% to 14% at 54 S&P 500 firms after return-to-office mandates, and the rise for women was nearly three times the rise for men.Ding, Jin, Ma, Xing and Yang, working paper, 2024
46% of US workers who work from home say they would be unlikely to stay in their job if they could no longer do so.Pew Research Center, Oct 2024
30% of euro area workers would accept a pay cut to work from home two or three days a week, and the average acceptable cut across all workers was 2.6%.European Central Bank, Consumer Expectations Survey, May 2025
Hiring and the law
87% of new US job postings were fully on-site in the second quarter of 2026, up from 65% in the fourth quarter of 2025.Robert Half, Q2 2026
Remote jobs made up 9% of US paid postings on LinkedIn in February 2026 but drew 37% of applications.LinkedIn Economic Graph, Feb 2026
9 of 51 countries give every employee a legal right to request remote or hybrid work.HR Stacks Hybrid Work Law Tracker, Oct 2026
20 of 51 countries require employers to pay or reimburse home-working costs.HR Stacks Hybrid Work Law Tracker, Oct 2026
Only 2 of 51 countries have all four hybrid work rules we tracked: a right to request, a telework law, an expense duty and a right to disconnect.HR Stacks Hybrid Work Law Tracker, Oct 2026
UK employers will have to show that refusing a flexible working request is reasonable from autumn 2027, under the Employment Rights Act 2025.UK Government, Sep 2026
Hybrid is the default for remote-capable workers, and it has stopped growing
Among US employees whose jobs can be done remotely, hybrid has sat between 52% and 55% in every Gallup reading since late 2024. The fully remote share has been just as steady, so the real change is happening inside hybrid schedules, not between work models. For the fully remote side of the picture, see our remote work statistics.
How many people work hybrid in 2026?
In the US, 54% of employees in remote-capable jobs worked hybrid in August 2026, according to Gallup. Across all full-time employees the share is far lower: WFH Research puts it at 26% over the 12 months to September 2026. In the EU, 23.0% of employed people usually or sometimes work from home (Eurostat, 2025).
Source: Gallup; WFH Research; Eurostat
Hybrid has held between 52% and 55% for two years
Source: Gallup, Indicator: Hybrid Work, survey waves to Aug 2026
Three surveys, three denominators
Who they count: Gallup asks only people whose jobs can be done remotely, so its hybrid share is roughly double the others. WFH Research surveys all full-time employees aged 20 to 64. Owl Labs surveys knowledge workers, two thirds of them managers. None of the three is wrong; they answer different questions.
Source: Gallup; WFH Research, Oct 2026 update (N=38,070); Owl Labs State of Hybrid Work 2026 (research firm survey)
of remote-capable US employees say hybrid is their preferred arrangement; 33% prefer fully remote and 6% fully on-site.
Source: Gallup, Nov 2025
of US wage and salary workers could work at home in 2024 to 2025, up from 28.8% in 2017 to 2018.
Source: BLS, American Time Use Survey, 2024 to 2025
Hybrid share among US federal employees after the 2025 federal return-to-office order, down from 61% the year before.
Source: Gallup, 2025
About a quarter of US workdays happen at home, and that share has held since 2024
Two independent US series point the same way. The WFH Research monthly survey has kept the share of paid days worked from home between 24.5% and 29.5% since January 2024, and the BLS telework rate has stayed between 21.5% and 23.8% since December 2023.
Share of US paid workdays worked from home
Source: WFH Research, Survey of Working Arrangements and Attitudes, monthly series
Share of US workers who teleworked in the survey week
Source: BLS, Current Population Survey (series to Mar 2026); Table A-41 (Sep 2026). October 2025 was not collected because of the federal funding lapse.
Monthly mix of full-time US employees
Source: WFH Research monthly series; single months are noisier than the 12-month average used elsewhere on this page
Home days a week that US employers plan for their staff, a level that has barely moved since mid-2022.
Source: WFH Research, Jul 2020 to Sep 2026
Gap between the home days workers want and what employers plan, roughly constant since 2020.
Source: WFH Research, Aug 2020 to Jan 2026
Hybrid creep: more hybrid workers now go in four days
Three days was still the most common pattern in 2025 at 39%. In the 2026 edition, 26% of companies had changed their hybrid policy in the past year.
Source: Owl Labs State of Hybrid Work 2025; Owl Labs 2026 (research firm surveys)
of US workers surveyed were staying in their current role in 2026, but 21% were actively looking for a new job and 38% described themselves as “job hugging”. In 2025, 27% were actively looking.
Source: Owl Labs State of Hybrid Work 2026 (research firm survey)
of workers surveyed would look for a more flexible job if their flexibility were removed, and 6% would quit outright. 40% of hybrid workers admit to “coffee badging”: swiping in, then leaving early.
Source: Owl Labs 2026 (research firm survey)
Hybrid follows pay, degrees and desk jobs
Whether someone can work hybrid depends mostly on the job. In September 2026, 53.5% of US information workers teleworked in a given week, against 7.9% in leisure and hospitality and 5.7% of workers aged 16 to 24.
For employers: flexibility is concentrated in the roles that are hardest to hire for. Tracking who uses it, by team and level, belongs in your HRIS rather than a spreadsheet.
Telework rate by industry
Source: BLS, Current Population Survey, Table A-42, Sep 2026
Women telework more than men
US, telework in survey week, Sep 2026
US, any work at home on days worked, 2025
EU, usually or sometimes from home, 2025
Source: BLS CPS; BLS ATUS 2025; Eurostat
Mid-career workers have the most access
By age
Source: BLS, CPS Table A-41, Sep 2026
A degree is close to a requirement
By education
Source: BLS, CPS Table A-41, Sep 2026
of working adults in Great Britain earning under £20,000 worked hybrid
of those earning £50,000 or more did, along with 41% of degree holders
Source: Office for National Statistics, Who has access to hybrid working in Great Britain, Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, Jan to Mar 2025. Hybrid means working from home and travelling to work in the same week.
Hybrid work by country: more than half of Dutch workers, fewer than 1 in 25 in Romania
Eurostat measures every EU state the same way, so its figures can be ranked. National statistics offices outside the EU each define home working differently, so those figures sit side by side below with their definitions, not in a league table.
For employers: where a country sits on this chart says little about its rules. Our law tracker shows which of these countries give staff a right to ask, and hiring there without an entity runs through an Employer of Record.
Work from home across the EU
* Eurostat flags a different definition for France and Spain. Ireland’s “sometimes” share is our calculation from the published total and “usually” figures.
Source: Eurostat, lfsa_ehomp, data updated 30 Jun 2026
Home days a week by region
Global average, balanced panel of 22 countries.
Twice the Asian level: working from home is about twice as common in advanced English-speaking economies as in much of Asia, and the gap tracks commuting norms and management culture more than job mix.
Source: Aksoy, Barrero, Bloom, Davis, Dolls and Zarate, Global Survey of Working Arrangements, PNAS 2025; regional ranges as published
Hybrid and home working outside the EU, by national definition
Structured hybrid is now the norm: 62% of employers set fixed office days
Employers have stopped debating whether to allow hybrid work and started fixing how much of it there is. Fixed-day rules have more than doubled since 2022, and three days in the office is the most common requirement.
For employers: a written schedule with a set number of days is now the market default, so open-ended flexibility is a hiring advantage. Rota and desk planning sit in employee scheduling software.
Fixed office-day rules more than doubled since 2022
Source: JLL Global Occupancy Planning Benchmark 2026 (industry data)
How the Fortune 100 sets office time
45% of the Fortune 100 now require four or five office days. Among all US firms, the average requirement is 2.87 days a week.
Source: Flex Index, Flex Report Q3 2025 (industry data)
of US companies with fewer than 500 employees were fully flexible on work location
of enterprises with 25,000 or more employees
Source: Flex Index, Q3 2025. Small firms employ 51% of US workers, so flexibility is far more common than big-company headlines suggest.
Who sets the hybrid schedule
91% of hybrid workers call a team-set schedule fair, against 73% when leadership sets it.
Source: Gallup, 2026
of US firms offered some location flexibility in Q3 2025, while 34% required full-time office attendance, up about 2 points on the year, mainly because of government agencies.
Source: Flex Index, Q3 2025
of Fortune 500 companies run a hybrid schedule, typically three days in the office and two at home, according to Stanford economist Nick Bloom. The figure is an estimate, not a survey count.
Source: Stanford SIEPR, Apr 2025
Employers formalize, employees feel the pull
Employer fieldwork Apr to May 2025 (n=2,050); employee fieldwork Jan to Feb 2025 (n=5,017, YouGov).
Source: CIPD, Flexible and hybrid working practices 2025; CIPD press release, Jul 2025
Badge data shows near-record attendance in offices that are still half used
Office attendance is back near its post-2020 high, but most of the rise in utilization comes from employers cutting space and sharing desks rather than from more people coming in.
Average office occupancy in the week ending 30 September 2026. The record is 56.3%, set in the week of 8 December 2025.
Source: Kastle Systems Back to Work Barometer; Kastle, Dec 2025
Average building utilization
Average peak utilization reached 80% in 2026.
Source: CBRE 2026 Global Workplace and Occupancy Insights (industry data)
Offices still run below target
18 points separate actual use from target, the narrowest gap since the pandemic (25 points in 2025).
Source: JLL Global Occupancy Planning Benchmark 2026 (industry data)
Desk sharing is moving to moderate ratios
Target 1.01 to 1.49 people per seat
Target above 1.5 people per seat
Space per person fell from 172 to 158 sq ft, and 57% of organizations expect to shrink their portfolio within three years.
Seats allocated against physical capacity in 2026, an all-time high: more people are assigned to offices than can sit in them at once. 96% of organizations have a targeted office policy and 87% set explicit utilization targets.
Source: CBRE, 2026
of organizations say Tuesday is their highest-attendance day, and 68% of employees name collaboration as their main reason to come in.
Source: CBRE, 2026
average occupancy in A+ class buildings, week ending 30 Sep 2026
across all buildings in the same week
Source: Kastle Systems. US office vacancy was 19.8% in Q3 2026 (Cushman and Wakefield) and 18.3% in Q2 2026 (CBRE); the two firms measure vacancy differently.
Hybrid cuts quits by a third. Strict office mandates push senior staff out.
The strongest evidence on hybrid work comes from a randomized trial. Research on return-to-office mandates is newer and mostly still in working-paper form, so each study below carries its status.
For employers: attrition is where hybrid policy shows up in the numbers. If a mandate is coming, watch exits by level and gender in your talent management data and run a pulse survey through your engagement tool before and after.
Hybrid cut quits by a third with no measured cost to output
1,612 graduate employees at Trip.com in China were randomly assigned to two home days a week or full-time office for six months. Random assignment removes the self-selection that weakens most workplace studies.
Source: Bloom, Han and Liang, Nature 630, 920 to 925, 2024 (peer-reviewed)
Return-to-office mandates push out senior and skilled staff
54 S&P 500 tech and finance firms that issued mandates between 2020 and 2023, tracked through more than 3 million LinkedIn profiles. Not yet peer-reviewed; under revision for the Strategic Management Journal.
Source: Ding, Jin, Ma, Xing and Yang, Return-to-Office Mandates and Brain Drain, working paper, 2024
No productivity hit across industries
Across 43 US industries from 2006 to 2023, the share of work that could be done remotely showed no link to productivity growth once earlier trends were removed.
Source: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, 2024
Hybrid improved balance without hurting ratings
A field experiment at BRAC in Bangladesh found hybrid staff had better work-life balance and less isolation, with no difference in performance ratings.
Source: Choudhury et al., Review of Economics and Statistics, 2024
Juniors learn more near seniors
Engineers whose teams sat in one building got 22% more code comments, while senior engineers on those teams wrote 23% fewer programs a month.
Source: Emanuel, Harrington and Pallais, New York Fed, 2024
Mandates cut satisfaction, not costs
Glassdoor job satisfaction fell after S&P 500 return-to-office mandates, with no significant change in financial performance or firm value.
Source: Ding and Ma, SSRN, revised Oct 2026
Who would leave if home working ended
75% of teleworkable workers who are not fully remote must now come in on a set number of days, up from 63% in early 2023. Among hybrid workers, 72% would choose hybrid if it were up to them.
Source: Pew Research Center, survey Oct 2024 (n=2,315)
Engagement by work location
Hybrid workers were the most likely to be thriving (45% against 33% of fully remote) but also reported the most daily stress (46%).
Job postings swung on-site faster than workers did
Robert Half’s analysis has fully on-site roles jumping from 65% to 87% of new US postings in two quarters, a much faster move than any employee survey shows. Candidates have not followed. If you are hiring for flexible roles, your applicant tracking system will see the volume first.
For employers: flexibility is now a scarce benefit, so stating it clearly in postings is a cheap way to widen the funnel. Recruitment software and video interview tools make it easier to hire beyond commuting distance.
New US job postings by work model
Senior roles (5+ years) were 12% hybrid against 8% for entry-level roles. Postings data from TalentNeuron mapped to 450+ job titles; Robert Half does not publish the posting count. In its surveys, 36% of employers had increased required office days, and 46% of professionals were looking or planned to look for a new role in the second half of 2026.
Source: Robert Half, analysis of US job postings, Q2 2026 (research firm data)
Job postings that mention remote or hybrid work
The US share was 2.5% in January 2019. A Dallas Fed study of about 600 million postings found the share offering at least one remote day more than tripled in the US between 2019 and 2026.
Source: Indeed Hiring Lab remote tracker data; Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, WP 2629, Aug 2026
of US paid job postings on LinkedIn were fully remote in February 2026
of all applications; another 13% of postings were hybrid
Source: LinkedIn Economic Graph, US Monthly Economic Insights, March 2026.
of euro area workers would take a pay cut for two or three home days a week; the average acceptable cut across all workers was 2.6%.
Source: ECB, May 2025
of total pay is what US tech workers would give up for a remote or partly remote job, against about 7% in the wider workforce.
Source: Cullen, Pakzad-Hurson and Perez-Truglia, NBER, 2025
The hourly pay premium for home workers in France shrinks to near zero once their pre-pandemic pay is taken into account.
Source: Li, Sauvagnat and Schmitz, San Francisco Fed, Jan 2026
Only 9 of 51 countries give every employee a right to ask for hybrid work
We checked four hybrid work rules in 51 countries against legislation, official gazettes and labour ministry pages, counting only rules in force on 18 October 2026. Most countries give the right to ask only to parents and carers, and 34 of 51 have no right to disconnect at all.
For employers: these rules follow the employee, not the employer. A hybrid hire in Spain or Mexico brings an expense duty with it, which an Employer of Record will apply for you.
Right to request
YesAny employee can ask to work remotely or hybrid, and the employer must consider or justify a refusal.
PartialLimited to groups such as parents and carers, hours only, or non-binding guidelines.
Telework law
YesStatute or labour code rules written for telework.
PartialOnly a collective agreement, regulation or guidance.
Home-working costs
YesStatute makes the employer pay costs or supply equipment.
PartialOnly through case law, collective agreement, by agreement, or equipment only.
Right to disconnect
YesStatutory right for all employees or all teleworkers.
PartialSize threshold, a duty to set a policy, or a code of practice.
| Country | Region | Right to request | Telework law | Home-working costs | Right to disconnect | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | Americas | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Full telework law in force until its repeal on 1 January 2027. |
| Australia | Asia-Pacific | Partial | No | No | Yes | Right to ask limited to eligible groups; right to disconnect for all employees. |
| Austria | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Telework Act 2025: written agreement; employer supplies digital equipment or pays the costs. |
| Belgium | EU | Partial | Yes | Partial | Partial | Parents of under-12s and carers can ask after 6 months; disconnect rule applies to employers with 20+ staff. |
| Brazil | Americas | Partial | Yes | Partial | No | Priority for parents of young children and disabled staff; costs set by contract. |
| Bulgaria | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Parents of under-12s and carers can ask; employer provides equipment and covers communication costs. |
| Canada (federal) | Americas | Yes | No | No | No | Federally regulated staff only; written decision within 30 days after 6 months of service. |
| Chile | Americas | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Employer pays telework costs; 12 hours of disconnection; carers can ask for telework. |
| China† | Asia-Pacific | No | No | Partial | No | No telework statute; remote work needs employer consent. |
| Colombia | Americas | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Remote work laws with a cost allowance and disconnection; carers can ask since 2025. |
| Croatia | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Remote work rules with an employer cost duty; requests limited to health, pregnancy and care cases. |
| Cyprus | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Teleworking Law 2023 sets employer costs and gives teleworkers a right to disconnect. |
| Czech Republic | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Written remote-work agreement; costs reimbursed at cost or as a flat hourly rate. |
| Denmark | EU | Partial | Partial | No | No | Parents of under-9s and carers can ask; telework terms come from collective agreements. |
| Estonia | EU | Partial | Yes | Partial | No | Remote work covered by employment and safety law; employer must provide suitable equipment. |
| Finland† | EU | Partial | Partial | No | No | No right to ask for remote work; flexible hours only by agreement. |
| France | EU | Partial | Yes | Partial | Partial | Refusal must be reasoned for eligible posts; firms must negotiate a disconnection policy. |
| Germany | EU | Partial | Partial | Partial | No | No right to work from home; part-time and hours rights only. |
| Greece | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Employer pays telework costs; right to disconnect; parents of under-12s and carers can ask. |
| Hungary | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Parents of under-8s and carers can ask for telework; necessary costs reimbursed. |
| India | Asia-Pacific | No | Partial | No | No | No right to ask; 2026 model standing orders let employers permit remote work. |
| Ireland | EU | Yes | Partial | No | Partial | Any employee can ask for remote work; reply within 4 weeks; disconnect code is not binding. |
| Israel† | Middle East and Africa | No | No | No | No | No statute; approval is the employer’s call, used in good faith. |
| Italy | EU | Partial | Yes | Partial | Partial | Smart working law; priority for parents and carers; disconnection terms set in each agreement. |
| Japan | Asia-Pacific | Partial | Partial | No | No | Employers must offer, or try to offer, telework to parents and carers. |
| Latvia | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Employer covers remote-work costs unless agreed otherwise; parents and carers can ask. |
| Lithuania | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Some groups must be granted remote work on request; extra costs must be compensated. |
| Luxembourg | EU | Partial | Partial | Partial | Partial | Telework set by a generally binding national agreement; employers must set a disconnection regime. |
| Malaysia | Asia-Pacific | Yes | No | No | No | Any employee can apply for flexible arrangements; written reply within 60 days. |
| Malta | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Telework order puts equipment and communication costs on the employer; parents and carers can ask. |
| Mexico | Americas | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Telework chapter covers equipment, utility costs and disconnection; no right to ask. |
| Netherlands | EU | Yes | Partial | No | No | Staff with 26 weeks of service can ask to change workplace; employer must consider it. |
| New Zealand | Asia-Pacific | Yes | No | No | No | Any employee can ask from day one; reply within one month. |
| Norway | Rest of Europe | Partial | Partial | No | No | Home-work regulation requires a written agreement; flexible hours right only. |
| Peru | Americas | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Any worker can ask; no reply within 10 working days counts as approval. |
| Philippines | Asia-Pacific | No | Yes | Partial | No | Telecommuting Act makes telework a voluntary employer offer. |
| Poland | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | Remote work in the Labour Code since 2023; employer covers tools and running costs. |
| Portugal | EU | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Refusal must be written with reasons; full cost compensation; employer may not contact staff in rest time. |
| Romania† | EU | Partial | Yes | Partial | No | Parents can request telework days; employer provides equipment under the telework law. |
| Saudi Arabia† | Middle East and Africa | No | Partial | No | No | Remote work set by ministerial decision; no right to ask found. |
| Singapore | Asia-Pacific | Partial | No | No | No | Tripartite guidelines cover all employees but are not statute. |
| Slovakia | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Employer provides equipment and covers costs; teleworkers have a right to disconnect. |
| Slovenia | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Right to disconnect for all employees; pay for use of own equipment. |
| South Africa† | Middle East and Africa | No | No | No | No | Employment statutes are silent on remote work. |
| Spain | EU | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Ley 10/2021 covers equipment, expenses and disconnection; parents and carers can ask. |
| Sweden | EU | Partial | Partial | No | No | Parents and carers can ask for remote work; no telework statute or cost duty. |
| Switzerland | Rest of Europe | No | No | Partial | No | No right to ask; necessary expenses reimbursed, home rent only in some cases. |
| Turkey | Rest of Europe | Yes | Yes | Partial | No | 2021 regulation lets any worker ask; the employer decides, normally within 30 days. |
| United Arab Emirates | Middle East and Africa | No | Yes | Partial | No | Remote work models set in law; employer approval required. |
| United Kingdom | Rest of Europe | Yes | No | No | No | Day-one right to ask; two requests a year; decision within two months. |
| United States | Americas | Partial | No | No | No | No federal right; Vermont is the only state with a general right to ask. |
What is changing
- Argentina, 1 January 2027Ley 27.802 repeals the telework law, removing its expense duty and right to disconnect.
- United Kingdom, autumn 2027Employers will have to show a refusal of flexible working is reasonable.
- European Union, end of 2026The Commission plans a Quality Jobs Act covering telework and the right to disconnect.
- Canada (federal), date not setDuty to adopt a disconnection policy is law but not yet in force.
- Victoria, Australia, pendingA bill would give a right to work from home two days a week from 1 July 2027 if passed.
Rejected, expired or repealed
- Netherlands, 2023The Senate rejected the “work where you want” bill on 26 September 2023, so the weaker Flexible Working Act still applies.
- BelgiumCollective agreement 149 on pandemic telework has expired; structural telework runs under agreement 85.
How the counts break down
- EU, 27 states3 give everyone a right to request, 15 make employers pay home costs and 6 have a full right to disconnect.
- Latin America, 6 countriesAll 6 have a telework law, 5 require cost compensation and 5 give a right to disconnect.
- Confidence23 rows rest on official text, 22 on official text plus a legal guide, 6 on secondary sources.
What hybrid and remote staff cost employers beyond salary
In 20 tracked countries the employer must cover home-working costs on top of payroll, and statutory employer contributions range from 6% of salary in India to 62% in Brazil. The total cost of a hybrid hire abroad varies far more than salary benchmarks suggest.
For employers: budget for home-working allowances where the law requires them, and check whether your payroll software can pay them tax-efficiently in each country.
Ten hiring markets: cost on top of salary and the hybrid rules that come with it
| Market | Employer cost on salary | Median EOR fee | Home-working costs | Right to request | Right to disconnect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 8% | $599 | No | Partial | No |
| United Kingdom | 18% | $599 | No | Yes | No |
| Canada | 7% | $599 | No | Yes | No |
| Germany | 24% | $459 | Partial | Partial | No |
| France | 43% | $429 | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Netherlands | 26% | $459 | No | Yes | No |
| Brazil | 62% | $429 | Partial | Partial | No |
| India | 6% | $529 | No | No | No |
| Philippines | 16% | $459 | Partial | No | No |
| Australia | 12% | $459 | No | Partial | Yes |
Source: EmployerRecords EOR Pricing Index, Oct 2026 (sister site of HR Stacks); HR Stacks Hybrid Work Law Tracker, Oct 2026
Annual US office rent per person, using CBRE’s Q2 2026 average asking rent of $37.58 per sq ft and 158 sq ft per person. At JLL’s Q3 2026 asking rent of $40.51 the figure is about $6,400. Fit-out adds an average $162 per sq ft in the US.
Source: CBRE Q2 2026; CBRE 2026 occupancy benchmark; JLL Q3 2026; Cushman and Wakefield 2026 fit-out guide
Median employer contributions on top of gross salary across 184 countries, ranging from 0% to 62% (Brazil). Europe has the highest regional median at 22%.
Source: EmployerRecords EOR Pricing Index, Oct 2026
Median published Employer of Record price per employee a month among the 16 of 19 tracked providers that publish one; published prices range from $99 to $699.
Source: EmployerRecords EOR Pricing Index, Oct 2026
Employer of Record prices for hiring hybrid staff abroad
Multiplier
Annual contract; $499 on monthly terms.
Read the Multiplier review →RemoFirst
Varies with local country requirements.
Read the RemoFirst review →Pebl
Published price per employee; custom quotes on request.
Read the Pebl review →Prices from each provider’s own pricing page, checked 18 October 2026. More reviews: Papaya Global. Head to head: Deel vs Remote, Remote vs Multiplier, Multiplier vs Oyster HR, Deel vs Rippling, or browse all comparisons.
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The software stack behind hybrid work
Running hybrid well is mostly a data problem: who is in which day, what the policy says and whether people are leaving because of it. These are the categories that carry that load.
HR software
All-in-one platforms that hold work location, policy acknowledgements and office-day rules.
Compare tools →RecordsHRIS software
Employee records with location, team and schedule data for hybrid reporting.
Compare tools →SchedulingEmployee scheduling software
Rotas, anchor days and shift planning for teams that share desks.
Compare tools →EngagementEmployee engagement software
Pulse surveys to measure how a policy change lands before attrition shows it.
Compare tools →OnboardingEmployee onboarding software
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Home-working allowances and multi-country pay runs.
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Contracts and payouts for remote contractors alongside employees.
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Hybrid rules tighten in 2027, mostly outside the US
The next changes to hybrid work will come from regulators rather than employers. US policy stays employer-led, while Europe and Commonwealth countries keep adding procedural rights to ask and to switch off.
changes to hybrid and telework rules are due or proposed across our tracker and the EU, led by Argentina’s repeal on 1 January 2027 and the UK’s reasonableness test in autumn 2027.
Source: HR Stacks Hybrid Work Law Tracker, Oct 2026
of organizations expect to shrink their office portfolio in the next three years, up from 48% a year earlier; 67% of them name hybrid work as the reason.
Source: CBRE, 2026
of US firms with hybrid or remote staff planned a return to the office in the following year, enough to cut the national work-from-home share only from 21.2% to 20.8% of days.
Source: Bloom and Davis with the Atlanta Fed Survey of Business Uncertainty, Feb 2025
Hybrid work rule changes on the calendar
EU proposal
Quality Jobs Act expected, covering telework and the right to disconnect.
Argentina
Telework law repealed; no replacement regime announced.
United Kingdom
Refusals of flexible working must be reasonable; new Acas code due first.
Victoria, Australia
Two home days a week for eligible staff, if the bill passes.
Canada (federal)
Employers must adopt a disconnection policy once in force.
How we built this report
Edition: Q4 2026. Research by Alex Vate and Manjuri Dutta.
Primary sources only
Every figure was checked at the publisher’s own page, dataset or paper: statistics offices, peer-reviewed journals, central banks, academic research groups and named research-firm surveys. We do not use statistics roundup sites or vendor blogs. Data reviewed 18 October 2026.
How the law tracker works
We rated four rules in 51 countries using the definitions printed with the tracker, counting only rules in force on 18 October 2026. 23 rows are confirmed against official legislation, 22 against official text plus a legal guide, and 6 rest on secondary sources.
Comparing countries
National statistics offices define home and hybrid work differently. We rank only figures that share one definition, such as Eurostat’s, and show the rest side by side with their definitions.
Our calculations
Figures we computed are labelled “our calculation”: office rent per person, Ireland’s “sometimes” share, and remainder shares in split bars. Working papers are labelled as such until they are published.
Update log, Q4 2026 edition
| Figure | Previous | Now | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hybrid share, remote-capable US employees | 52% hybrid, 27% remote, 21% on-site (2025) | 54%, 25%, 21% (Aug 2026) | Gallup |
| US telework rate | 22.6% (Mar 2026) | 21.9% (Sep 2026) | BLS |
| Owl Labs work split | 28% hybrid, labelled entire US workforce | 25% hybrid, 65% in office, 10% remote of US full-time knowledge workers surveyed (2026) | Owl Labs |
| Employers that changed hybrid policy | 23% (2025) | 26% (2026) | Owl Labs |
| Workers actively job hunting | 27% (2025) | 21% (2026) | Owl Labs |
| Weekly US office occupancy | 56.3% (Dec 2025) | 55.4% latest (30 Sep 2026); 56.3% record kept | Kastle Systems |
| A+ buildings against all buildings | 74.2% vs 52.1% | 77.5% vs 55.4% (week ending 30 Sep 2026) | Kastle Systems |
| Trip.com trial productivity | About 1% productivity gain | No measured difference in output; managers’ estimate moved from -2.6% to +1.0% | Nature, 2024 |
| RTO turnover by gender | Women +20%, men +7% | Effect for women nearly three times that for men | Ding et al., working paper |
| RTO vacancy duration | 51 to 63 days | 51 days plus 12, about 63 (+23%); study labelled as a working paper | Ding et al., working paper |
| Hybrid postings, senior vs entry level | 31% vs 18% | 12% vs 8% | Robert Half |
| Hybrid share of postings, Q4 2025 | About 24% | Removed: not published. Fully on-site share 65% (Q4 2025) to 87% (Q2 2026) | Robert Half |
| Fully flexible large firms | Under 30% of 10,000+ employee firms | 11% of 25,000+ employee enterprises | Flex Index |
| Fortune 100 other policies | 36% other | 45% require four or five office days | Flex Index |
| English-speaking WFH days | 1.8 days a week | About 1.5 to 2 days a week | Global Survey of Working Arrangements |
| UK preference for hybrid or remote | 87% (CIPD) | Removed: not in any CIPD report. Replaced with CIPD 2025 figures | CIPD |
| US weekday occupancy | Mon 33%, Wed and Thu 59%, Fri 20%; early 2024 ~48%, mid 2025 ~52% | Removed: not published by Kastle | Kastle Systems |
| UK refusal test start | 2027 | Autumn 2027 | UK Government |
| EU right to disconnect | Ongoing | Quality Jobs Act proposal expected end of 2026 | European Commission |
All sources (53 published sources, plus legislation for 51 countries)
Hybrid work questions, answered with the latest data
How many people work hybrid in 2026?
In the US, 54% of employees in remote-capable jobs worked hybrid in August 2026, with 25% fully remote and 21% fully on-site, according to Gallup. Counting all full-time employees, WFH Research puts the hybrid share at 26% over the 12 months to September 2026. In the EU, 23.0% of employed people usually or sometimes worked from home in 2025 (Eurostat).
What is the most common hybrid schedule?
Three office days a week. In CBRE’s 2026 benchmark, 66% of organizations had policies of three or more days, and three-day hybrid was the most common policy among Fortune 100 companies at 35% (Flex Index, Q3 2025). JLL found that 62% of organizations now require a fixed number of office days.
Is hybrid work as productive as working in the office?
The strongest evidence says yes. A randomized trial of 1,612 Trip.com employees, published in Nature in 2024, found no difference in performance reviews or promotions over two years, while quits fell by a third. A San Francisco Fed analysis of 43 US industries found no link between remote work potential and productivity growth.
Do return-to-office mandates increase turnover?
A working paper on 54 S&P 500 firms found abnormal turnover rose 13% to 14% after mandates, and time to fill a vacancy rose from 51 to about 63 days. The effect for women was nearly three times that for men, and senior and skilled staff were more likely to leave. Pew found 46% of US home workers would be unlikely to stay if home working ended.
What is the office occupancy rate in 2026?
Kastle’s badge data put average US office occupancy at 55.4% in the week ending 30 September 2026, close to its post-2020 record of 56.3% set in December 2025. Tuesday was the busiest day that week at 65.5%. CBRE puts average building utilization at 53% in 2026, up from 38% in 2024.
Which countries give employees a right to request hybrid or remote work?
Of the 51 countries in our tracker, 9 give every employee a legal right to ask: Ireland, the Netherlands, Portugal, the UK, Turkey, Canada (federally regulated staff), Peru, New Zealand and Malaysia. Another 33 limit the right to parents, carers or other groups, often under the EU Work-Life Balance Directive. The US has no federal right.
Do employers have to pay home office costs for hybrid staff?
In 20 of the 51 countries we tracked, yes. The duty is common in Southern and Eastern Europe and Latin America, including Spain, Portugal, Poland, Mexico and Chile, while the UK, US, Canada and Australia have no general statutory duty. When you hire abroad through an Employer of Record, the provider applies the local rule; compare providers in our Employer of Record ranking.
Which industries have the most hybrid workers?
In the US, information (53.5%), financial activities (52.8%) and professional and business services (43.3%) had the highest telework rates in September 2026, against 7.9% in leisure and hospitality and 9.5% in construction (BLS). Education matters as much: 37.8% of workers with a bachelor’s degree or higher teleworked, against 8.3% with a high school diploma only.
Which European country works from home the most?
The Netherlands, where 52.3% of employed people worked from home usually or sometimes in 2025. Sweden (44.5%), Luxembourg (42.9%) and Finland (41.5%) follow, against an EU average of 23.0%. Romania (3.6%) and Bulgaria (4.0%) have the lowest shares (Eurostat).
Are hybrid job postings declining?
In the US, yes. Robert Half found 87% of new postings were fully on-site in Q2 2026, with 10% hybrid and 3% fully remote, up from 65% fully on-site in Q4 2025. Indeed’s tracker shows 8.6% of US postings mentioning remote or hybrid work in September 2026, against 15.9% in the UK and 16.8% in Ireland.