Even before the pandemic, we heard near-constant discourse from our customers and community about the efficiency of distributed work models and the potential tradeoffs for team performance, connection, and retention. In fall 2022, Donut surveyed a wide swath of current corporate workers, which included active Donut users, to gauge their sentiments about their preferred ways to work – and how work culture has fared during the rapid evolution of the workplace.

The survey responses included a pool of 30% remote workers, 25% in-person workers, and 43% hybrid workers; 18% of those surveyed use Donut in their current role. As such, the findings are representative of a vast array of the corporate workforce, and key takeaways can be applied to companies of all sizes and industries.

We learned:

• The importance of workplace friendships for employee effectiveness
• The relationship between workplace flexibility and retention
• Other factors crucial to productivity in the evolving workplace.