Moving to a hybrid working model, whatever form that might take, has the potential to save firms up to 40% in real estate costs over 3 to 5 years - that’s according to Ben Rogoff, who runs the investment trust of Polar Capital Technology. Plenty of companies are already seeing savings from making the switch - here are three real-life examples to illustrate just how this money is being put to better use.

 

Founded in 2019, Hopin is a technology platform that allows event organisers to seamlessly and securely manage participants for virtual, hybrid and in-person events. As you can imagine, demand for its services grew rapidly over the pandemic.

 

From a team of 6 at the start of 2020, they are now working with the likes of the UN, the Financial Times and with events of 37,000+ people at The Atlantic Festival. Unsurprisingly for a forward-looking tech start-up, they’ve adopted a remote, distributed workforce. 

Hopin offers a work/life balance that focuses on flexibility. Employees can take unlimited vacation and have flexible schedules - a must in a truly international team. With their teams working fully remotely, they also pay $800 for Home Office Set Up and include a choice of laptop (Mac or Dell) to sweeten the deal. 

 

To tackle the issue of company culture for a rapidly-growing start-up working remotely, they have the so-called ‘Vibe’ team. It’s a team of 8 people dedicated to building and reinforcing a vibrant company culture, recognising that this can be more difficult virtually.

Hopin’s CEO Johnny Bourfarhat called hybrid working the “secret to our success”, citing their capacity to access an enormous pool of talent globally. Hopin also attributes their lack of real estate to why they are on Fast Company’s list of Top 100 Innovators. Hybrid working allowed them to scale quickly, because they didn’t have to worry about the costs and hassle of office spaces, even as they built diverse teams that could foster innovation. 

 

 

Cloudflare is a website security company with 1,900 employees across 16 global offices. Yet, despite its focus on providing web infrastructure, it was an office-first company before the pandemic. Now though, they are investing in changing their office model.

 

 

Although their hybrid working policy is not yet fixed, Cloudflare is looking to offer flexible working options to all of its employees. They also offer ‘take-what-you-need’ paid vacation, highlighting that as long as their employees get the job done, they won’t count how many hours it took them. 

 

 

The pandemic inspired Cloudflare to completely redesign their flagship offices in London and San Francisco, in recognition of how the way that employees are using the space is changing. 

 

The focus of their new-and-improved offices is encouraging collaboration, ideation and mentorship, by creating different sections to the office. In one section, there are flexible seating zones, where employees can book in for a team huddle or a 1-on-1 brainstorm with a colleague. Alternatively, there are spaces that mirror a university library setting, designed for quiet concentration. Coupled with this, they also provide locker spaces and the option to book out company equipment, in lieu of having fixed desk space. 

What this highlights is that hybrid working is not only about getting rid of workspace; for some companies, it is an opportunity to invest in new types of offices, better tailored to innovative, productive work. 

 

 

 

 

 

We couldn’t not take this opportunity to share how working remotely has helped us to grow much faster than we ever could have, as a start-up. 

 

In 2019, NearU, or the AirBNB for workspaces as we like to think of it, launched an app that connects employees to flexible desk space and meeting rooms. For the first time, we put flexible working at your fingertips. After the pandemic, traditional office working is a thing of the past, but given the mental health disadvantages of working-from-home, our app offered a different option. NearU’s pay-as-you-go booking platform lets you choose to work-near-home when you want, eliminating the need for a commute, freeing you from expensive office rental contracts, and giving you the freedom to do what works for you. 

 

 

Of course, we practice what we preach. Here is what Founder, Daniel Murray, said about NearU’s hybrid model.

 

"We adopt a model that is fully flexible and it costs us around £250 per staff member per month. This enables each member of staff to book into their own workspace and have a couple of collaboration days too through meet-ups.”

 

 

“If we were to adopt a traditional office 5 day a week option it would be around £1k per month. Not only is it incredibly expensive and inflexible, we wouldn't even really use it that much. We're better off spending that money in other areas for growth or looking after our staff - like hosting regular team socials and encouraging them to develop their own interests outside of work, which then boosts their happiness and productivity."