Who decides where we work - the individual, the collective or the institution? Narratives of legitimizing hybrid work practices

Abstract

We examine how knowledge workers use narratives to legitimize their hybrid work practices in post-Covid-19 work life. We identify three narratives, the 'individualist', the 'collectivist', and the 'institutionalist', as alternative perspectives of hybrid work that people draw on to legitimize their workplace choices to support performativity and well-being. This study contributes to research on organizational policy implementation by explaining how narrative constructions are used to legitimate different choices within same organizations that go through a transition from forced remote work to hybrid work.