The “Grow Remote – Future of Work Pulse” that looks at what’s shaping the future of work across Ireland and beyond. We round up the latest stories, share insights, opinions and spotlight where remote and hybrid models are helping people, employers and communities thrive while not shying away from the challenges of remote!

1) Flexibility is Central to Workplace Wellbeing

New insights from IBEC drives home a truth we see often in the Grow Remote community: flexibility is foundational to employee wellbeing.

The research which surveyed more than 1,000 people, 68% said that hybrid or flexible work is key to their wellbeing, while 35% said they’d be willing to leave a high-paying job for one that offered hybrid options.

Work-life balance, mental health, and financial wellbeing are top priorities for workers but these priorities usually only materialise when people have control over how, when, and where they work.

Many conversations around flexible work often focus on structure and policy, but those are just the starting points. True wellbeing emerges when flexible work is backed by something deeper: a culture of trust, strong communication practices, and leaders who are equipped to support their people not just manage tasks. The same survey shows that nearly 7 in 10 employees say workplace wellbeing has become more important over the past few years, yet over a third feel their managers lack the training to support it. That’s a gap worth closing, particularly for remote and hybrid workers where they will also face unique challenges.

If businesses want to build high-performing teams that thrive in the long-term, wellbeing must be baked into both policies and culture. That starts with offering flexibility, supported by training, trust, and tools.

So, ahead of “Ireland’s biggest celebration of workplace health & wellbeing” that takes place on Wednesday 30th April 2025 – why not ask within your leadership team, can we do more to enable employee wellbeing though our operating model and ways of working.

Remote team culture and wellbeing are both key themes in the Grow Remote fully-funded short course training programme “Leading Remote & Hybrid Teams” that is available in Ireland (our next group is starting in May with limited spaces available – find out more here).

📌  Source of Original Article: RTÉ Business

2) Gender Parity, Productivity, and the Power of Hybrid

A recent study published in March 2025 by IWG (International Workplace Group) revealed a powerful stat: 67% say hybrid working has positively impacted their career trajectory.

More than just a lifestyle preference, hybrid work is becoming a critical driver of gender equity especially for women balancing career progression with other responsibilities. In fact, 64% of women surveyed said hybrid work was twice as important to them as parental leave.

It’s not hard to see why. Flexibility increases labour force participation, helps mitigate burnout, and opens up new or previously restricted career pathways – all without the invisible cost of the daily commute or presenteeism culture. And the impact isn’t just personal; it’s economic. Hybrid work is now very much tied to productivity boosts, talent retention, and more inclusive workplaces.

If we combine this report with data from the CSO “Women and Men in Ireland Hub” – it further highlights the shift: the number of women working from home rose by 306% between 2016 and 2022. In contrast, the number of men working from home increased by 114% during the same period. Female participation in the workforce has grown concurrently alongside the increased availability of flexible working arrangements, including the widespread adoption of remote and hybrid work models in the last 5 years.

The IWG report concludes with this statement which we think is on point – “The best business leaders understand that hybrid and more flexible ways of working remain a key driver of improving working life for women, accelerating action and fast-tracking us towards equality.”

📌 Source of Original Article: Irish Independent

3) Remote Work Isn’t Always Easy – But That’s Not the Point

The Irish Examiner recently spotlighted something that doesn’t get talked about enough: the challenges of remote work.

Research from IT provider Datapac states that from those surveyed (200 IT decision-makers) continue to face significant challenges, with work-life balance (39%), training and development (36%), cybersecurity (34%), and communication and collaboration (31%) as key ongoing issues.

These are real workplace challenges for companies as they embrace new ways of working. While it might be tempting for some organisations to define these as blockers to new ways of working and roll back on flexible options, the solution should rather lie in intentionally designing a new workplace culture, ways of working and solving the challenges of remote.

Remote work is not about replicating the office experience at home. It’s about rethinking how teams connect, how people are managed, and how inclusion is built in from the start.

From our conversations with hybrid employers, we’re hearing that more leaders are recognising that tools alone can not solve culture gaps whereas intentional practices do. So, while remote working environments might see challenges rise to the surface faster, they also force organisations to fix the root causes and that is an essential step for businesses who want to thrive and compete – regardless of their operating model!

The takeaway? Remote work is not without its challenges, but neither was, nor is, the office. The difference now is that businesses have the opportunity to design work intentionally and with new insights on wellbeing, equity, and performance at the core of their decision making. The strongest organisations won’t shy away from the challenges of remote – they will solve them to compete and thrive in the future of work.

📌  Source of Original Article: Irish Examiner

👀 Final Thoughts

Headlines from the first two weeks in April carry a common theme: flexible work is reshaping not just how we work, but who gets to thrive at work and which companies will be the most competitive.

Hybrid and remote models are accelerating gender equality by removing systemic barriers to progression. They’re supporting employee wellbeing by giving people more control over their time and energy. They are also revealing real challenges, from communication gaps to culture-building. But those aren’t reasons to turn back, they are instead reasons to evolve and thrive!

We will be back in May with another look at what’s shaping the future of work across Ireland and beyond.

www.growremote.ie