For many of us, the overnight switch to hybrid working that occurred five years ago was a bolt from the blue. While there had been some remote working pre-pandemic, this was still relatively uncommon. Nowadays, we think nothing of working from home, or indeed anywhere with a WiFi connection – and for those who joined the workforce during or soon after COVID-19, that’s especially true.
Not everyone wants to work remotely, and indeed not everyone can. Some roles must be done onsite, some people don’t have the set-up to operate effectively from home, and some people are simply better suited to a dynamic that sees them travel to and from work every day. While South African organisations have taken different approaches to their work-from-home policies,[1] remote or hybrid working is showing no sign of going anywhere. When BSI asked recent career starters (people who had joined the workforce since 2019) what they wanted, hybrid was the most popular structure (37% stated it as a preference, with 16% preferring fully remote).
The feasibility of hybrid working, of course, rests on technology, from the connectivity needed to log on anywhere, to having the actual devices set up at home as well as onsite. While frequent power outages and connectivity issues can be a challenge for South African employees, there are two points related to technology that are important to consider: being sufficiently equipped to perform the job, and managing security vulnerabilities both in the workplace and offsite – either at home or other remote locations, such as shared office spaces or cafes.
As a starting point, a truly flexible structure rests on employees being equipped with the technology they need wherever they are, rather than expecting them to rely on personal devices. But what’s even more critical is that employers are investing in the professional collaboration tools needed to ensure in-person, hybrid and remote employees can engage equally in virtual meetings. That could be conference rooms equipped to video call into, or multiple screens for those working from home.
While we’ve all learnt to remind colleagues ‘you’re on mute’, this also means providing training in inclusive hybrid meeting practices to bridge engagement gaps. How do you ensure colleagues dialling in have the same opportunity to interject as those in the room? How can you facilitate virtual breakout rooms to enable collaboration and creative interaction? Navigating the technology and understanding how best to approach these dynamics should not be taken for granted.
At the same time, with hybrid work here to stay, this raises significant challenges when it comes to information security, particularly in ensuring the availability, integrity and confidentiality of information and data. Cyber security is of critical importance as criminals become ever more sophisticated, especially in an age when we are working with artificial intelligence tools as a matter of course and exposing new security risks for employees to navigate. Social engineering tactics, where criminals exploit people rather than technical hacking techniques to get access to confidential material, including phishing, ransomware and business e-mail compromise, are just a few of the growing considerations for businesses today. Particularly in South Africa, which has become the most targeted region globally for cyber attacks in 2025.[2]
With blurred boundaries between work and remote access, it’s important to remember that security threats don’t stop at the workplace, and neither should your information security strategy. In particular, employers should be alive to the information and data security implications of remote work, particularly around confidentiality – especially among career starters in shared accommodation or those who may be using insecure WiFi.
Technologies like multifactor authentication, secure remote access solutions and endpoint protection can help secure critical systems and data, no matter where employees are accessing them. Providing dedicated work devices, rather than using personal devices, can also build further security into digital systems, as well as supporting better work-life balance. These measures can help secure critical systems and data, no matter where employees are accessing them.
Again, training is the critical factor here when it comes to minimising security vulnerabilities; having precautions in place is besides the point if employees aren’t familiar with them. Ensuring employees are up to speed on what cyber secure working looks like, the precautions to take and the watch-outs to be aware of, is vital. Whether employees are on site or working remotely, the need for robust information security remains the same.
Ultimately, while we are seeing some calls for employees to return to offices in South Africa, hybrid working appears here to stay at least in some form. To make a success of it, South African organisations should prioritise putting in place both the technology and tools, bolstered by comprehensive security strategies and training that respond to, and evolve with, this not-so-new way of working.
[1] The great office divide: South Africa's post-Covid work strategies - TechCentral
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