Africa is in the midst of unprecedented changes to the workplace that will affect enterprises and workers across the continent for decades with the hybrid work model becoming popular not only in South Africa, but throughout Africa.

Office rental specialist, Regus, says that although they’ve long been a workspace of choice for entrepreneurs and freelancers, more small-to-medium sized businesses and corporations are also starting to move into a hybrid style of working.

Enterprises in South Africa are transitioning to remote or hybrid work models to reduce office space costs and enhance employee well-being, leading to improved organisational performance. Hybrid work positively impacts physical, mental, and emotional health while offering a significant impact on profits. It also helps reduce the carbon footprint as 86% of journeys are made by car, contributing to 3.2 tonnes of CO2 per person annually.

Hybrid working is better for people, planet and profits bringing a place to work into the heart of local communities, saving businesses money, and supporting six of the UN Sustainable development goals.

When enterprises were asked about the future model of their workplace, just 4% said that they planned to remain partly remote. In the coming years, many enterprises will continue to use a hybrid workplace model with some work taking place remotely or at home and other work being done at the HQ or a close to home co-working space.

In South Africa, it was found that physical presence at the workplace was significant. The impact of the economic downturn has had an immense impact on African enterprises, especially for companies not traditionally designed to operate digitally flawlessly. Others place great emphasis on particular parts of the business process such as training, mentorship, and orientation.

While hybrid workplaces are set to increase across Africa, enterprises in some countries seem likelier to do so than others. The research suggests that Nigeria leads the way, with some 56% of enterprises planning a hybrid work model. Mozambique may also see a significant share of hybrid workplaces with 49% of enterprises planning to use this model.

One manager in Uganda said that human connection was a fundamental part of their work. “Our business is about interaction, meeting face to face, creating relationships. It’s something we can’t take away from our products.”

With long commutes increasingly a thing of the past and hybrid working now standard for up to 40% of all workers, the research suggests there has also been a surge in the workforce of commuter towns as hybrid working allows people to work closer to home. Local economies are set for a boost as hybrid workers could rise by up to 175% in local towns.

Technology empowers white-collar workers to do their jobs productively no matter where they are. Locations with historically larger white-collar commuter populations and fewer local white-collar jobs are set to benefit the most as workers recognise that they can work closer to home and from local workspaces without the long commute – ultimately further increasing local spending in suburbs, dormitory towns and rural communities.

Hybrid working allows employees to choose where and how they work, which workers highly value.

Previous research by IWG – Regus’s parent company – ​ found that 72% of hybrid workers said they would only consider new jobs and roles that allowed them to base themselves at workspaces closer to home for part of the week.

Mark Dixon, CEO and founder of IWG, says: “The hybrid migration is one of the most important forces at play in the world today as workers increasingly embrace the opportunity to work locally, bringing significant opportunities to the economies of local communities as well as creating a better work-life balance for employees.”

Hybrid working is radically reshaping the geography of work.

This latest research highlights that it has a profound and lasting impact on the make-up of communities and the geography of towns and cities.

Suburbs, smaller towns, and rural communities everywhere are being revitalized – and this trend will continue to accelerate over the coming years.