While some companies have fully embraced a hybrid work model, others—such as Boots UK, construction company Laing O'Rourke, the Manchester United Football Club, and video game creator Rockstar—have all issued mandates for employees to return to the office. Managers, however, are overruling company policy to allow employees to continue to work from home in a trend known as hushed hybrid.

According to a 2024 Owl Labs survey, 70 percent of managers have ignored mandates from company leadership so that workers can keep their existing schedules and work from home. Hushed hybrid work indicates that both employees and managers prefer to work either remotely or hybrid in opposition to a traditional, in-office schedule.

Managers who permit their direct reports to work in a hushed hybrid arrangement have decided employees' productivity and happiness outweigh the potential consequences. For instance, Britain's Health and Safety Executive report shows that in 2023 and 2024, work-related stress, anxiety, or depression accounted for half of all work-related illnesses and caused an average of 17 days of sick leave per employee.