Fathers are more likely than mothers to benefit hybrid working arrangements according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Those work from home saved an average of 56 minutes that day by not going to work, even though they slept and exercised more than those who went to work.

The ONS said people could benefit from an extra 24 minutes of “sleep and rest” and an extra 15 minutes of “exercise, sport and wellbeing” each day.

Data suggests that those who work from home spend on average 10 minutes less working, although the ONS said its estimates were not precise enough to be sure this was the case.

More than a quarter of workers in the UK were working hybrid this autumn, according to the ONS Views and Lifestyles October survey found. It showed that although the trend towards only working from home has declined since the pandemic, a hybrid model where part of the working week is spent at home has become the “new normal” for many UK workers.

Parents and older employees in higher positions and with higher qualifications are more likely to split their working week between home and the office or factory.

Nearly half (45 percent) of those in more senior positions (managers, directors or senior civil servants) followed a hybrid work model, compared to 27 percent of all workers. Only 3 percent of people working in sectors such as retail or the household had a hybrid arrangement.

Nearly a third of workers aged 30 and over had a hybrid work arrangement, compared to 9 percent of them. aged between 16 and 29.

More than four in ten fathers enjoy working between home and the office, compared to 20 per cent of women, the ONS said.

One reason for this, he suggests, is that a higher percentage of women work in sectors such as healthcare, retail and teaching, where it is more difficult to work remotely.

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Among non-parents, the results revealed little gender difference, with roughly equal numbers of women (25 percent) and men (24 percent) benefiting from hybrid work.

Workers with a degree or equivalent qualification were 10 times more likely to do hybrid work than those without a qualification – 42 per cent compared to 4 per cent, according to the ONS. This was also more prevalent in the IT sector, where 49 percent of employers offered hybrid working, the highest proportion.

According to the survey, “improving staff well-being” continues to be one of the most frequently cited business reasons for hybrid and home working.

The ONS figures come as a number of employers are demand a return to full-time power arrangements or reduction of hybrid working.

Companies from Amazon to Unilever have called their employees back to the office, and the share of people working from home full-time fell from 37 percent in February 2021 to 13 percent in October 2024.