How to Prepare the Workforce for a Hybrid Future?

The disparity between supply and demand for remote work can be attributed partially to the belief among management that remote workers aren’t as productive, although 70% of IT professionals think remote workers are equally or more productive than onsite workers in a similar role. While most individual contributors (59%) are in favor of remote work, management is less supportive, especially at the executive level (32%).

Challenges in Remote Work Adoption and Execution

It comes as a surprise that only 11% of companies supporting remote workers hired additional IT staff during the pandemic, given the challenges that can arise in organizations adopting a flexible work policy. This bears no weight on the level of work it takes to go remote: 55% of IT professionals say it’s more difficult to support remote workers than those in the office, and 73% say a shift to remote work at their company created additional work for IT.

Insufficient infrastructure is another common challenge among organizations considering a flexible work policy. In 30% of businesses, legacy technology hinders remote work, and poor home internet connectivity limits employees in 55% of all companies and 69% of companies based in rural areas.

Our data also reveals that a stigma exists around remote work among 42% of companies in rural areas, compared to only 29% of organizations in urban areas. As a result, employees working for companies headquartered in rural areas will be much less likely to work remotely after the pandemic ends (12% compared to ~30% in suburban and rural areas).

The ability or lack thereof to easily cut back on office space also factors into whether businesses will implement a flexible work policy. In companies that primarily rent office space, an estimated 41% of employees will go remote after the pandemic (either fully or hybrid), compared to only 17% of workers within companies that primarily own their office space.

Remote Work Technology Opportunities 

It’s clear that the immediate, often-mandated shift to remote work in 2020 fundamentally altered the way we look at the modern workplace. A previous SWZD study suggests at the height of the pandemic, 61% of the overall workforce went remote. And with a newly remote workforce comes new needs and technologies to support them — 55% of companies increased tech spending during the pandemic.

Among companies with flexible work policies, security solutions to support remote workers are poised for the most adoption growth, with an additional 16% planning to adopt them within two years. On the other side of the same security-coin, 33% of companies supporting remote workers plan to adopt tools to monitor employees, which are controversial due to concerns over trust and privacy.

While 40% of companies planning to use remote monitoring software will track employee productivity or time on task, only 21% of IT professionals believe these tools can effectively measure worker productivity.

By 2023, one-third of companies with flexible work policies also plan to adopt hotel desk / hot desk booking systems, which assist hybrid-remote employees in reserving shared office seating and meeting rooms.

“Throughout the pandemic, technology has empowered employees to stay productive and connected, even amid lockdowns and stay-at-home orders,” said Peter Tsai, Head of Technology Insights, SWZD. “From video conferencing, to cloud-based collaboration solutions, to voice over IP, we’re at a point now where technology is mature and reliable enough to support a truly global, remote workforce. In fact, our research indicates 84% of IT professionals believe the technology exists to allow remote workers to be as productive as in-office workers.”