Navigating Hybrid Work: An Optimal Office–Remote Mix and the Manager–Employee Perception Gap in IT

The transition to hybrid work has become a defining feature of the post-pandemic IT sector, yet organizations lack empirical benchmarks for balancing flexibility with performance and well-being. This study addresses this gap by identifying an optimal hybrid work structure and exposing systematic perception gaps between employees and managers. Grounded in Self-Determination Theory and the Job Demands–Resources model, our research analyses survey data from 1003 employees and 252 managers across 46 countries. The findings identify a hybrid “sweet spot” of 6–10 office days per month. Employees in this window report significantly higher perceived efficiency (Odds Ratio (OR) ≈ 2.12) and marginally lower office-related stress. Critically, the study uncovers a significant perception gap: contrary to the initial hypothesis, managers are nearly twice as likely as employees to rate hybrid work as most efficient (OR ≈ 1.95) and consistently evaluate remote-work resources more favourably (OR ≈ 2.64). This “supervisor-optimism bias” suggests a disconnect between policy design and frontline experience. The study concludes that while a light-to-moderate hybrid model offers clear benefits, organizations must actively address this perceptual divide and remedy resource shortages to realize the potential of hybrid work fully. This research provides data-driven guidelines for creating sustainable, high-performance work environments in the IT sector.