More than half (56 per cent) of PRs working in-house come into the office for two days a week or less. In contrast, barely a third (32 per cent) of agency professionals have the same flexibility over where they work from.
The data is from a survey of 350 corporate comms professionals, more than half (59 per cent) of whom work in-house, by comms recruiter The Works Search for its 2025 Salary Guide.
The report reveals significant differences around flexible working, with agency staff twice as likely as their in-house counterparts to have to be in the office five days a week (two per cent vs four per cent).
In-house professionals are more likely to be fully remote workers who do not come into the office, with five per cent of in-house professionals falling into this category compared to three per cent of their agency counterparts.
Only around one in ten (12 per cent) of in-house PRs are in the office four days a week, compared to nearly one in five (19 per cent) of those working in agencies.
Working in office vs working from home
And in-house professionals are less likely even to work three days a week in the office, with fewer than one in three (30 per cent) doing so compared to almost half (45 per cent) of their agency peers.
One in four in-house (26 per cent) and agency professionals (25 per cent) spend two days a week in the office.
But while 19 per cent of in-house PRs work in the office for just one day a week, only three per cent of those in agencies do so.
“Hybrid working models are settling into a new norm, with two to three office days per week now standard, although some employers are starting to mandate more days in the office,” the report states.
“Professionals are favouring flexibility and autonomy. Employers able to offer this balance are more likely to retain talent in an increasingly discerning workforce,” it adds.
“In-house professionals appear to have more autonomy in choosing their location,” the report states.
And while “the traditional 5-day model is likely a thing of the past for most comms professionals” it notes that “agency professionals are spending more days in the office than their in-house counterparts”.
The report suggests that this difference is down to factors such as a “cultural emphasis on in-person meetings and fast-paced client servicing” as well as “leadership preference for closer oversight in project-driven environments”.
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