Flexibility at work: More companies move away from in-office model

A shift away from fully-in-office jobs continued over the last year, and the trend may well continue, based on research revealing that the large majority of recently formed companies are adopting flexible workweeks.

According to the latest Flex Index by Scoop, which canvasses approximately 7,500 companies quarterly, the percentage of companies requiring employees to work in the office at all times dropped from 49% at the start of 2023 to 38% in the fourth quarter.

The study found that 93% of companies founded since 2010 offered workplace flexibility in the form of either a fully remote or hybrid schedule for employees, compared with 63% of companies founded before 1980. That trend around new companies led the authors to predict that in the coming years, the percentage of U.S. companies using a fully-in-office model could dip below 15%.

A hybrid work schedule specifically saw the greatest gains in 2023, increasing from 20% of companies to 29%. The fully flexible numbers rose from 31% to 33%, creating a situation where the percentages are closing in on an even three-way split between fully flexible, hybrid, and fully-in-office models.

On a recent Journal of Accountancy podcast episode, a former AICPA board chair shared her belief that in-office time remains particularly valuable for “future bosses” while also recognizing the value of flexibility.

“People need flexibility for their day, and I know that there are some roles that have been identified as great opportunities for remote work, and there are some roles that quite frankly are going to need to be in-person,” Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, CPA, CGMA, the founder and CEO of KET Solutions, said on the podcast. “I hope all of our companies and all of our individuals are thinking through a strategy. Because we can’t wing this, because if we wing this, we will really mess this up. We have to be purposeful and consistent in our thinking and how we apply whatever that approach is. But I think, ultimately, it just comes back to flexibility for what you need for your day.”

In the latest quarterly Flex Index, 87% of financial services companies offered some form of a flexible workweek, the fifth-highest percentage among 19 industries. Technology companies led the way with 97% offering flexibility, while restaurants and food services had the highest percentage of fully-in-office models (70%).

For this quarterly survey, Scoop partnered with the Boston Consulting Group to consider revenue growth for a subset of public companies featured in the report. Adjusting to strip out revenue growth differences that could be attributable to the industry mix of the sample, companies with fully flexible workplace policies experienced revenue growth from 2020–2022 of 21%, compared with 3% growth for companies with a fully-in-office model. Hybrid companies experienced 6% growth.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com