The new norm of hybrid working
混合办公（hybrid working或hybrid-remote working）, 指个人、团队或组织一部分时间到工作单位、一部分时间以远程方式办公。也就是说，办公地点可以在办公室、家和第三空间之间切换。
在混合办公模式下，到办公室工作的员工数量减少。因此，企业可以缩减办公室面积，或者把办公室进行改装，增设共享工作空间 （co-working space）和会议室，从而节约成本。同时，由于员工可以远程办公，企业的人才库可以大大扩充。从员工方面来讲，他们既可以根据个人喜好选择办公地点和方式，又可以因为地理位置不受限制而有更多的就业选择（job option）。
无论是远程办公（remote working）还是混合办公都得益于技术上的ABC——人工智能 （AI）、大数据（Big Data）和云端（Cloud）。工作与生活、业务与娱乐、商业与消费、工作设备和个人设备之间的界限越来越模糊。人们越来越期望自己的工作具有跨时间（工作和生活的时间）、跨地点（工作的地点）和跨设备（手机电脑）的灵活性、自主性、可转移性。
混合办公方式由来已久，但因为新冠肺炎疫情和随之而来的远程办公试验而迅速推广，逐渐成为工作方式新常态。微软公司从2005年开始允许员工在任何时间、任何地点办公（work anytime and anywhere），只要按时完成任务就行。例如，今年4月，微软公司发布《Microsoft 2021工作趋势指数报告》，66%的受访在职人员希望公司保留远程办公选择。
与混合办公相关的一个新词是hybrid team（混合团队）。在这种新型工作结构中，团队有的成员远程办公，有的成员集中在办公室或别的某个地方工作。
当然，混合办公并非有利无弊。不是人人都有条件居家办公。因此，混合办公模式可能会伴随着社会经济和种族不平等 （socioeconomic and racial inequality）。
Hybrid working, also known as hybrid-remote working, refers to individuals, teams, or organizations working on-site or remotely. In other words, the office locations switch between the office, the home, and the third space.
Thanks to hybrid-remote working, fewer employees come to the office. So companies can cut costs by downsizing or retrofitting offices with co-working spaces and meeting rooms. Meanwhile, employees can work remotely, so companies can significantly expand their talent pools. For employees, they can choose office locations and working styles according to their personal preferences. They also have more job options due to the unrestrained geographical location.
Both remote working and hybrid working benefit from the technology of ABC — artificial intelligence (AI), Big Data, and Cloud. The boundaries between work and life, business and entertainment, business and consumption, and work devices and personal devices are increasingly blurred. And people increasingly expect their work to be flexible, autonomous, and transferable across time (work and life), location (workplaces), and devices (mobile phones and computers).
Mixed working has been around for a long time, but it has become widespread as the new normal with the outbreak of the COVID-19 and the accompanying telecommuting experiment. Since 2005, Microsoft has allowed employees to work anytime and anywhere as long as they complete tasks on time. For example, in Microsoft 2021 Work Trend Index released in April, 66 percent of employees surveyed said they wanted their company to keep telecommuting as an option.
A new word related to hybrid work is hybrid team. In the new work mode of a hybrid team, some team members work remotely, while others work together in an office or somewhere else.
Of course, hybrid working is not without its drawbacks. Not everyone can work from home. Therefore, mixed working patterns may result in socioeconomic and racial inequality.
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