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Forward-looking, India's workplace is set to settle into a hybrid default, but with sharper rules. As companies globalise and teams spread across cities and time zones, the next 1-2 years will be less about "mandating days" and more about making office time purposeful.
Employees who treat in-office days as opportunities for collaboration and visibility are likely to see faster career progression, while organizations that decentralize policies to managers will win on both flexibility and performance. According to ACCA's latest report, hybrid work remains the clear preference both globally and in India. Similar to 2025, 75% of respondents globally and 79% in India prefer hybrid work over fully remote or fully office-based models. The shift is already visible: 53% of respondents in India are currently working in a hybrid model, up from 45% last year and higher than the global average of 45%. That rise "suggests that organisations are responding to the preferred work patterns of employees," the report notes. The data also shows strong support for "intentional office presence." In India, 74% agree that organisations should require employees to spend a set number of days in the office each week, and 69% believe greater office presence helps career progression, higher than 58% globally. The figure climbs to 72% among Gen Z in India, compared to 63% globally. Experts at ACCA's India roundtable said hybrid is a "more balanced approach" because it lets people prioritise work while enabling collaboration. But they cautioned against one-size-fits-all mandates. "It's not true that you need to be physically present in front of a person to engage better. To the question of whether it is better to work hybrid than full-time in the office, I think wherever technology permits us to work hybrid, we should," said Nisha Srinivasan, Dell Technologies, as quoted in the ACCA report. Giridharan R, Grant Thornton Bharat, added that "organisations need to have purposeful and intentional policies in place based on a model that works for their clients, while being agile to individual needs." He suggested a base framework with decision-making decentralised to hiring managers or division heads "to find a balance between individual and organisational requirements." ACCA's findings point to a workplace where flexibility stays, but office days get a strategy. With 55% of Indian respondents expecting to be in the office more often over the next 1-2 years, companies that design meaningful in-person time will likely gain the edge in both retention and career growth. (ANI)
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