Journal of Management Research and Review (JMRR)

Remote and Hybrid Work After the Pandemic: A Narrative Review of HR Policy Design and Employee Outcomes

Hussain, Syed Fatima, Akram, Mehmoona, Anwar, Raja Muneeb

22 August 2026 · Vol. 2, Issue 8, pp. 660-662

DOI: 10.65150/EP-jmrr/V2E8/2026-13

Abstract

The mass adoption of remote and hybrid work following the COVID-19 pandemic has generated a large and fragmented body of research spanning human resource management, organisational psychology, and labour economics. This narrative review synthesises the published evidence on how remote work policy design shapes employee productivity, engagement, wellbeing, and retention. Drawing on peer-reviewed studies published between 2015 and 2024, the review organises the literature around four policy dimensions: scheduling flexibility, performance management approach, communication structure, and wellbeing safeguards. Across studies, the evidence indicates that outcomes depend less on the presence of remote work than on how it is governed: autonomy-supportive scheduling and outcome-based evaluation are consistently associated with positive outcomes, whereas surveillance-heavy monitoring and unstructured communication are associated with distrust, burnout, and turnover intention. The review identifies persistent gaps — including a shortage of longitudinal designs, limited evidence from small and medium enterprises, and under-representation of non-Western contexts — and proposes an agenda for future research alongside evidence-based recommendations for HR practitioners designing durable hybrid work frameworks.

Keywords: remote work, hybrid work, human resource management, narrative review, employee wellbeing, performance management, flexible working

Read the full text on Journal of Management Research and Review →The full peer-reviewed article and PDF are hosted on the journal's site (the version of record).

Hussain, Syed Fatima, Akram, Mehmoona, Anwar, & Raja Muneeb (2026). Remote and Hybrid Work After the Pandemic: A Narrative Review of HR Policy Design and Employee Outcomes. Journal of Management Research and Review, 2(8), 660-662. https://doi.org/10.65150/EP-jmrr/V2E8/2026-13

@article{Hussain2026,
  title   = {Remote and Hybrid Work After the Pandemic: A Narrative Review of HR Policy Design and Employee Outcomes},
  author  = {Hussain and Syed Fatima and Akram and Mehmoona and Anwar and Raja Muneeb},
  journal = {Journal of Management Research and Review},
  year    = {2026},
  volume  = {2},
  number  = {8},
  pages   = {660-662},
  doi     = {10.65150/EP-jmrr/V2E8/2026-13},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.65150/EP-jmrr/V2E8/2026-13}
}

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