Returning to the Office During the COVID-19 Pandemic Recovery: Early Indicators from China

The COVID-19 pandemic forced many people to abruptly shift to remote work in early 2020. But as countries progressed through a recovery from the pandemic, as occurred in China beginning in the spring of 2020, companies went through a process of reopening their offices. People worked in a hybrid mode in which they could decide how to divide their time working from home and in the office. In this research, we explored what are the key factors that shaped employees’ decisions. We conducted a survey and interviews with employees in China of a global technology company. The data demonstrated people’s work time arrangements between home and office, their experiences when working from home, and their preferred work mode. Through the interviews, we identified people’s diverse strategies and reasons behind the decisions of where to work during the hybrid work phase.