Hybrid? Remote? In-office? How to decide the right working model for your team in 2026

Hybrid? Remote? In-office? How to decide the right working model for your team in 2026

Choosing the right working model is a critical decision that shapes your company culture, impacts collaboration, and directly affects your ability to attract and retain talent.

And, with work-life balance officially overtaking pay as the most important factor for employees for the first time in the 22-year history of the Randstad Work Monitor report, but many companies enforcing return-to-office mandates, flexible working models are more top of mind than ever.

Should you offer hybrid working? Fully remote positions? Or prioritise in-office collaboration?

There's no universal answer – but understanding what other European tech companies are doing can help you make an informed decision for your team.

In this guide, we'll break down the latest data on hybrid, remote, and in-office working models from Ravio's 2027 Compensation Trends report, alongside practical advice on choosing the right approach for your company.

Hybrid vs remote vs in-office working: what's the difference?

Hybrid working means employees split their time between working remotely (usually from home) and working in the office. The specific split varies – some companies mandate certain office days, whilst others allow employees full flexibility to choose. You'll often see these roles advertised as "hybrid remote".

Remote working means employees work from a location outside the company's office. This can be either within the same country as the company's headquarters or internationally – some companies hire remote workers via an employer of record (EOR) like Deel or Remote to enable hiring across borders.

In-office working means employees work from the company's physical office location full-time.

Working models in 2026: hybrid is still dominant, but fewer companies offer multiple models

Hybrid working remains the most common model across European tech, offered by between 72% and 96% of companies depending on the country (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

But the variety of working models on offer contracted this year.

In the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands, fewer companies offered each model – onsite, remote, and hybrid alike – meaning fewer companies are offering multiple models at once.

Many companies offer different working models for different teams and roles, which explains why these figures total more than 100%.

Spain and Sweden went in opposite directions. Spain polarised towards the extremes – fully remote doubled (to 50%) and fully onsite more than doubled (to 16%), while hybrid fell. Sweden consolidated around hybrid (up to 81%), with fully remote and fully onsite both roughly halving.

For Alexandra Stoica, Head of People, Spain's shift reflects a wider change in where tech talent wants to live.

"Changes in the US political and immigration landscape are making Europe increasingly attractive, and talent from Northern Europe is increasingly relocating south too," she says.

"Spain is a particularly popular relocation destination, and as skilled international talent relocates there, more companies are expanding their presence too."

How many days work from home do hybrid employees get?

For many companies, "hybrid" still means maximum flexibility rather than a prescribed split of office and home days.

Allowing up to 5 days working from home is the most common hybrid policy in every market – ranging from 34% of companies in France to 63% in Germany (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

But there's been a modest, consistent shift this year: the share of companies allowing 5 WFH days fell in every market (by 1-4 percentage points), while policies with fewer WFH days (1-2 per week) gained ground in most markets.

France and the Netherlands remain the most structured. In France, 56% of companies limit hybrid employees to 2-3 days WFH per week, and 48% in the Netherlands.

Is remote work going away in 2026?

Not entirely, but it is shrinking in most markets.

Fully remote options fell in the UK (39% to 32%), Germany (48% to 41%), and most sharply in Sweden (49% to 22%). Spain is the exception, where the share of companies offering fully remote roles doubled to 50% (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

Petra Skoglund, Strategic HR Advisor, thinks the pendulum has settled rather than swung back entirely.

"Some companies tried going back to fully on-site and failed – and some of their best people left because they simply couldn't work like that – so now there's this settling around hybrid flexibility," she says.

What are companies planning on working models for the next 12 months?

Most companies aren't planning to change their working model.

Fully remote companies are the most settled – all of those we surveyed have no change planned.

Hybrid companies are the most likely to change, and they're overwhelmingly moving towards more office time (17%) rather than more flexibility (4%) (source: Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

Before pushing for more office time, it's worth weighing what flexibility is worth to your people. Liis Reitz, Compensation Specialist at SMG Swiss Marketplace Group, sees it as a benefit for the business as much as the employee.

"That flexibility is hugely valuable for the individual, but it benefits the company just as much – when people can work in a way that suits them best, you’re much more likely to get the best out of them too," she says.

Which working model is right for your company?

So how do you decide which approach works for your team?

Based on insights from Vaso Parisinou, Chief People Officer at Ravio (previously: Truelayer, Carwow, Deliveroo), here are four key considerations:

Tip 1: Learn the viewpoint of your founder(s) on working models and align the company’s culture with that

Many startups are founder-led, and the working culture often reflects the founders' own convictions – whether that's remote-first or a minimum of three days in the office each week. Other founders prefer to prioritise what their wider team wants and needs.

"Founders have the privilege of creating a culture they want to work within, and it’s vital for People Leaders to understand the viewpoint of their founder(s) and align with it when bringing a working model and culture to life," says Vaso.

Starting from the company's founding principles makes it much easier to have conviction in the working model you choose, and to hire people whose preferences are aligned with it.

Tip 2: Understand your employees’ preferences too – different working environments are right for different people

Flexibility is one of the most valued parts of working life for many employees. "If I’ve slept badly one night and need an extra hour of sleep, I can choose to skip the commute that day, no questions asked. The flexibility that hybrid and remote working options have brought is what I personally value in my working life," says Vaso.

But remote working is also a privilege – not everyone has a calm space to work at home – and in-person time brings real benefits for community, collaboration, and careers.

"Working together as a team, in-person, brings with it a sense of community and belonging," says Vaso. "Plus, there are those all important conversations and connections across functions and seniority levels that come organically when working in close proximity."

As People Leaders, that means listening to employees as well as founders, and avoiding drastic changes that could push great team members to leave.

At Ravio, for example, the team moved from one mandatory office day per week to two for hybrid employees – enough to strengthen collaboration, without removing the flexibility many people valued.

Tip 3: Be prepared to put in the work to make your chosen working model work

Making mandatory in-office days successful requires work and central organisation – from documenting (and enforcing) which days are office days, to ensuring enough desks and meeting spaces.

Remote-first workplaces need the same intentionality: internal comms systems and processes, and planned onsites so remote workers get time together too.

"No one wants to head into the office for a working day, only to find they’re the only one there. Equally, if 50 people are in the office and everyone’s sat with headphones on in virtual meetings, that’s a nightmare too!" says Vaso.

Tip 4: Accept that you may need to flex towards remote working to close new hires

Even if you prefer some office time, you may need to compromise when competing for scarce talent – especially for in-demand engineering and AI roles.

"Say you have a critical Site Reliability Engineer role you’ve been trying to fill for a while. You’ve interviewed 500 people and finally have a great candidate that wants the job. But, they’re asking for the role to be fully remote instead of two mandatory office days. Are you really going to say no and interview another 500 candidates for the role? Of course not!" says Vaso.

Make sure your founders and leadership team understand, and are comfortable with, that kind of tactical exception.

Tip 4: Accept that you may need to flex towards remote working to close new hires

"As we saw at the start of this article, job candidates are still making flexible work and remote options a priority (remember those findings of the EY 2023 employee survey that 50% of employees are only willing to go to the office once a week, and a third would prefer a fully remote job).

With remote jobs so popular, even if you have a preference for a company culture where employees work in the office at least some of the time, you may well need to compromise on that when competing for talent.

In tech, for instance, the talent market for software engineering roles is renowned for being hyper-competitive, and it’s very common for software engineers to only consider fully remote jobs today.

If you have a job position which needs to be filled, and mandatory office working days are the one thing holding you back, you’re going to need to be ok with compromising on that as a tactical hiring decision to attract talent – and you need to be sure that your founder(s) and leadership team understand and are ok with that too."

FAQs

What is a hybrid working model?

A hybrid working model combines remote work with in-office time, ensuring collaborative time as a team, whilst giving employees the flexibility to work from home.

But "hybrid" doesn't mean the same thing everywhere. Some companies mandate specific office days each week, whilst others offer complete flexibility.

What does hybrid remote mean?

"Hybrid remote" describes a role where you work partly from home (or another remote location) and partly from the office. How the time is split depends on the company – in European tech, the most common hybrid policy in 2026 still allows up to 5 days working from home, while others require 2-3 office days a week.

What is an example of a hybrid working model?

A common hybrid working model is having two mandatory office days per week (such as Tuesday and Wednesday), with employees able to work from home or choose to work in the office for the remaining three days. However, many companies now offer maximum flexibility within their hybrid model, allowing employees to choose up to 5 days working from home per week.

How many days a week is hybrid working?

It varies by company and country. In 2026, the most common hybrid policy in every European market is allowing up to 5 days working from home – from 34% of companies in France to 63% in Germany. Policies with 2-3 days in the office are most common in France (56% of companies) and the Netherlands (48%) (Ravio Compensation Trends 2027).

What are the benefits of a hybrid working model?

The benefits of hybrid working models include:

• Collaboration and connection: Unlike fully remote models, hybrid working maintains opportunities for in-person collaboration. Teams can schedule office days around key meetings, workshops, or social events, building the relationships and spontaneous conversations that drive innovation and career development.
• Flexibility and work-life balance: Hybrid models give employees greater control over when they commute and when they’re able to work from home. This means they can manage personal commitments more easily, avoid rushed morning commutes on days when they need extra rest, and create working environments that suit their individual needs.
• Attracting and retaining talent: With flexibility now a top priority for employees, hybrid models help companies remain competitive in the talent market without sacrificing the benefits of in-person working entirely.

What is the difference between hybrid and remote working?

Hybrid working means employees split their time between working remotely and working in the office, with varying levels of flexibility depending on company policy. Remote working means employees work entirely from outside the office, either within the same country or internationally, with no regular office attendance expected.

Is hybrid better than remote?

Neither is better for every company. Hybrid is by far the most common model in European tech (offered by 72-96% of companies), balancing in-person collaboration with flexibility. Fully remote works well for companies hiring across borders or competing for scarce talent – and fully remote companies are the most settled in their approach, with none planning to change. The right choice depends on your founders' vision, your employees' needs, and the talent you're competing for.