A new poll conducted by the Information Technology Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) showed an even higher proportion of its members’ employees prefer hybrid work.
An Employee Sentiment Survey in March showed 83 percent of those polled prefer a combination of work-from-home and onsite work compared with 60 percent the previous month.
The results of the latest poll was presented by Jack Madrid, IBPAP president, at the Iloilo Investment Forum last week.
The poll was conducted on the eve of the deadline given to information technology-business process management (IT-BPM) companies and other business enterprises registered with the Philippine Economic Zone Authority to return to their office sites by April 1 or they will be stripped of incentives.
The poll also showed 88 percent of the employees are more efficient and productive in a hybrid model.
The proportion of those preferring full-time onsite fell to 4 percent in March from 10 percent in February. Those who prefer full-time remote work also declined to 12 percent from 30 percent.
“This new (hybrid) work model is emerging as becoming the preferred model for the IT-BPM industry and I suspect other industries as well. Before the pandemic, we were very comfortable working on site in the office but in 2020 and 2021, we learned how quickly we can adapt to this… how remote teams working together can actually get the work done and without sacrificing productivity. And we did this surprisingly quickly,” Madrid said.
He said as the industry moves to what will be the new normal and the high likelihood of this hybrid work arrangement, “it is important to note that you know employees are expecting flexibility because many of the jobs that we do can be done equally well at home.”
In presenting the poll results, Madrid said “an overwhelming majority of employees now prefer and expect a hybrid work arrangement.”
But he noted this is not a one- size, fits -all situation as the hybrid model depends on three considerations: the industry, the client and the investor.
“There will be different degrees of expectation into what that precise hybrid model (is going to be). It is not going to be one number, or one kind of ratio, but it will vary across industry across customers. Not all specific verticals are going to be fully comfortable. There is a need to protect customers data privacy. And so this this balance will have to evolve over time. But we will be getting there. But the message is very clear. Over 90 percent of people expect and prefer to work in a hybrid environment,” Madrid said.
Without specifying, Madrid said there will be some work that will still need to be done fully on site while there will be others that can be done partially on site, maybe two days a week, maybe three days a week while there are work that can be done primarily from anywhere or from home.
“It is now going to be very interesting in the next year to see how companies begin to explore the broad range of work models based on these three considerations,” Madrid said.
But he noted the importance of being “more sensitive to the voice ofemployees and what their preferences are. “
“Finding that balance between delivering the job but also employee satisfaction, well-being while retaining productivity and employee retention are (some of the) considerations that investors and employers need to think about,” Madrid said. Irma Isip
