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Introduction: The New Normal in the US Workplace
Three years after the pandemic upended how America works, the dust still hasn’t settled. While many companies have reopened their offices, the “where” and “how” of work have permanently shifted. According to research by Keypoint Intelligence, roughly 40% of US knowledge workers are now hybrid workers who split time between the home and the office. Fully remote work remains higher than pre-pandemic levels but is often confined to micro-sized companies. For dealers, this evolving balance between remote and in-office work is more than a human resources headline.
It’s a blueprint for the next decade of sales, service, and innovation.
The Data on Work Location Trends
The numbers tell a clear story: The American workplace is no longer dominated by either extreme. Hybrid arrangements have emerged as the sweet spot for many companies, while hybrid work now represents the largest single category of workplace arrangement for full-time employees. Fully remote work, meanwhile, has retreated from its pandemic peak, especially as large employers like Amazon, Google, and JPMorgan Chase have set minimum in-office days. Yet remote work, as a portion of working time, is still far more common than in 2019 when fewer than 6% of US workers were fully remote.
Just exactly how much hybrid is in terms of days can be seen on the timeline based on Keypoint research (see slide below). While 2-3 days per week in the office through the pandemic years has now settled at 3.5 days on average, this shows a tip toward more in-office work than remote. This has major implications for how organizations design their spaces, invest in technology, and manage productivity. For dealers, these changes dictate what equipment is purchased, where it’s installed, and how it’s serviced.
Demand Implications: The Modernization Plan
A hybrid workforce means fewer people in the office at any one time, prompting many businesses to downsize their physical footprint. Office leases, as reported by corporate real estate players, are shrinking, and floor plans often feature shared workstations as well as “hot-desking” setups. From an equipment standpoint, this shift reduces the need for large, centralized print-and-copy fleets. One high-volume MFP that used to serve 50 employees may now serve only 25 in-office people on a given day, making the investment harder to justify.
However, the flip side is increased demand for smaller, decentralized devices that can serve individual departments, satellite offices, or even employee home workspaces. When paired with secure, cloud-based workflow tools, devices such as compact desktop printers, scanners, and all-in-ones can deliver flexibility without sacrificing capability. This is not as simple as A3 vs. A4, though. Workflow integration is key for today’s modern workplace, and for many businesses the return-to-work (RTO) mandate has included the upgrading of equipment, space, and facilities to a more worker-friendly setting, which allows the seamless shift from remote to in-house with the highest level of digital technology.
The “equipment-as-a-service” model is gaining traction, too. Businesses want to avoid heavy capital expenditures when their staffing levels and space usage are in flux. Subscription models that bundle hardware, service, and software into easy to understand, predictable monthly payments align perfectly with this need. Similarly, the co-working option is back, with demand for shared office space rising that offers perks like shared client base, networking capabilities, and a modern high-tech workspace.
How Hybrid Work Creates Opportunities for Dealers
While some dealers may see the shift as a threat, it’s better viewed as an invitation to expand capabilities. Hybrid work opens several growth avenues:
- Home Office Fleet Management at Scale: Dealerships can provide standardized devices for employees’ home offices, ensuring compatibility, reliability, and security—as well as managing them as part of a unified fleet.
- Secure Cloud Document Solutions: With documents being created, printed, and scanned in multiple locations, secure cloud-based platforms for storage and collaboration become essential. Dealerships that offer and support these tools move beyond “box sales” into workflow consulting.
- Managed Print & IT Services: Hybrid clients often lack the internal IT capacity to manage a distributed device fleet. Dealerships that bundle managed print services with remote IT support can become indispensable partners.
Stay tuned for Part 2, including information on tariffs as well as our conclusion, coming Thursday, November 20!
Stay ahead in the ever-evolving print industry by browsing our Industry Reports page for the latest insights. Log in to the InfoCenter to view more research on in-person, remote, and hybrid work through our Workplace CompleteView Advisory Service. Not a subscriber? Contact us for more information.
