Nine in ten CEOs are now offering hybrid work practices to their staff members, with many of them seeing increases in productivity and improved staff retention as a result.

A study of more than 500 CEOs from the International Workplace Group found that some 91% were using hybrid work practices – where members of staff are free to divide their time between office and remote working.

These changes helped drive improvements in productivity (cited by 75% of respondents) and staff retention (76%). There were also benefits to workplace culture – one area often cited as a remote work weakness. Instead, the IWG report said employee engagement was up at 77% of companies using hybrid working, whilst more efficient collaboration between individuals and teams was reported by 75%.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given these results, 74% of CEOs said that bringing workers back into the office was not a business priority.

The figures were starker still when HR leaders were quizzed. A full 100% said they believed hybrid working fostered a happier and more loyal workforce.

A second report, this one a collaboration from The Bank of England, Stanford University, King’s College London, and Nottingham University, put a numerical figure on the benefits that hybrid working could offer.

It said that for each day a company uses hybrid working, its productivity was around $19,000 (£14,750) higher than that of an equivalent firm using more traditional working practices.

One company now firmly on board with hybrid working is Trip.com. It conducted a real-world experiment of its own by splitting its workforce in two – those whose birthdays fell on an even-numbered day of the week (who were obliged to work from the office full time) and those with odd-numbered dates (who could work remotely two days a week).

For two years the company monitored productivity, satisfaction, quality of work and even promotions. One group was the clear winner, and hybrid working was rolled out across the whole company as a result.

International Workplace Group CEO Mark Dixon told IT-Online: “The uptake of hybrid working is continuing to increase as companies of all sizes understand its importance in creating an optimal environment for the business’s productivity and the happiness of its employees to thrive.

“Furthermore, this latest research convincingly demonstrates that CEOs appreciate the critical role that hybrid working plays in attracting and retaining the highest-quality talent.”