The hybrid work shift: Drivers and implications for people's everyday lives, well-being and health
Kort beskrivning
Research problem, aim and research question. The hybrid work model is becoming a standard in Sweden and globally. In Sweden, nearly 40% of employees regularly work from home, with almost half doing so more than two days a week. For many, home now rivals the office as a primary workspace, reshaping the daily use of time and space. This project examines the evolution of hybrid work and its implications for daily life, well-being and social sustainability.
Building on our previous studies conducted during or shortly after the pandemic’s work-from-home mandates, we tentatively identified key drivers to this shift. First, the strong preference to continue work from home stemmed from reduced commuting time, a greater sense of always being ‘in place’, and a calmer pace of life. Second, evidence linked WFH – particularly for women – to improved individual well-being, as it provided a coping strategy, allowed individuals to slow down, regain autonomy, and adopt a more localised lifestyle in response to contemporary time pressures.
It is crucial to assess whether these trends persist as the hybrid work model becomes established, while also addressing unintended effects and inequities. For example, and third, our previous research indicated that, contrary to expectations, WFH reinforced gender disparities in housework and childcare. Also, observed risks such as isolation, blurred work-life boundaries, increased stress and declining well-being for certain groups require further scrutiny.
In light of these developments, our project aims to investigate how enduring hybrid work reshapes daily life and wellbeing with a focus on:
- Institutionalisation of hybrid work: The evolution of hybrid work into established routines, employees' workweek strategies, and its impact on daily time use.
- Well-being and time use: How shifts in daily time use affect well-being, including time pressures, stress, health and autonomy across occupations.
- Gendered divisions: Gendered experiences of hybrid work, particularly its impact on domestic responsibilities and the double burden.
- Place attachment and local living: The influences of hybrid work on individuals’ attachment to place, mobility patterns, and engagement with local communities – key environmental factors for well-being.
This project offers unique insights into the long-term transformation and implications of hybrid work. Unlike most existing studies, which focus on pre-pandemic conditions or behaviors during the pandemic’s extreme circumstances, we examine a period in which hybrid work has stabilized into routine practice.
Data and methods. Our study will be based on data collected across three critical phases of rapid hybrid work development: the acceleration phase (2021-2022), the stabilization phase (2023-2024), and the consolidation phase (2026 and beyond). We employ a multimethod approach that tracks changes at both extensive and in-depth levels. At the population level, large-scale cross-sectional time-use surveys from 2021 and 2024 will be supplemented by a third wave in 2026/27. At the individual level, we expand a longitudinal qualitative study following a group of 30 hybrid public-sector workers, by a third wave, incorporating diaries and interviews. The data is analyzed using multivariate statistical methods and thematic analyses of interviews.