Career mobility | Hybrid working still shaped by class, age & income, ONS data reveals

Hybrid working has become a lasting legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic, with new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showing that 28% of working adults in Great Britain were hybrid workers between January and March 2025.

However, the findings reveal stark inequalities in who benefits from this model, with differences shaped by education level, income, region, disability status and job type.

Since March 2022, the proportion of hybrid workers has steadily increased, while the number of workers commuting full-time has declined. Home working levels have remained relatively stable, indicating a broad shift from office-based roles to mixed arrangements. But this shift is not equally shared across the workforce.

Education and income drive hybrid working access

The ONS found that workers with a degree or equivalent qualification were ten times more likely to hybrid work than those with no qualifications (41% compared with just 4%). Access was also twice as high as those with qualifications below degree level (21%).