📋 Tender Overview
A new global business survey commissioned by Xerox Holdings Corporation shows an estimated 82 of the workforce in respondents organizations will have returned to the workplace in 12-18 months time on average. In preparation for a return companies are investing in new resources to support a hybrid remote in-office workforce with 56 increasing technology budgets and 34 planning to speed their digital transformation as a result of COVID-19.The Xerox Future of Work Survey conducted by the independent research firm Vanson Bourne polled 600 IT decision makers including senior C-level professionals from the U.S. Canada the U.K. Germany and France whose organizations have at least 500 employees. Respondents reported challenges caused by the sudden transition to remote work with 72 citing they were not fully prepared from a technology perspective. In addition to technology 29 the biggest pain points during the required work from home period were communication breakdown across teamsemployees 26 and maintaining focus 25.While there is no doubt the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we work our research found that over time many companies plan to have most employees back in an office environment. This could be for a variety of reasons including communication speed of decision-making and talent development said Steve Bandrowczak Xerox president and chief operations officer. At the same time the sudden shutdown and ongoing hybrid work environment has exposed technology gaps that require new or additional investment in the coming months.Key survey findings and Xerox takeaways includeBusinesses plan to return most employees to the office though expanded remote work policies are here to stay.Prior to work from home requirements being imposed 33 of respondents said networkdata security and privacy was their biggest concern with a remote workforce 24 cited employee productivity followed by 16 citing technology infrastructure. These concerns coupled with the belief held by 95 of respondents that in-person communication is important for personal development and assessing talent indicate widespread remote work will not replace more traditional workspaces.However now that businesses are more comfortable with remote work attitudes and policies of C-suite leaders and IT decision makers are shifting. Among the countries polled the U.S. is the most likely to have an increase in confidence in remote working 86 followed by the U.K. 80 Germany 80 Canada 77 and France 75. Furthermore 58 plan to change their work from home policy within the next year highlighting the need for companies to support a hybrid workforce.Our takeaway Employees may not be going back to the office all at once or even in the same capacity as before but the need for organizations to support a hybrid workforce is here for the foreseeable future. Sudden stay-at-home orders quickly revealed technology gaps.The rapid transition to remote work was difficult for most businesses with only 28 saying they were fully prepared and 29 citing technology as their biggest pain point. Among the specific countries polled France was the least likely to be fully prepared for the sudden transition to remote work while the U.S. was the most likely to be fully prepared. With regards to technology specifically respondents said their top challenges were remote IT support 35 inadequate workflow solutions 27 lack of communications and collaboration tools 22 and lack of cloud-based solutions 10. 85 of business leaders also missed the accessibility and ease of use of their office printers with U.S. respondents missing them the most 93 followed by Germany 92 and France 91.Our takeaway To mitigate against future disruptions such as the rapid transition to remote work resulting from COVID-19 companies will look to invest in new technologies and seek added capability from existing tools to accelerate their processes digital transformation. Technology purchasing priorities are shifting to better support employees.As a result of technology gaps uncovered by having a mostly remote workforce 70 of IT decision makers globally are reevaluating their budget spend with companies increasing investment in remote technology resources 55 or a hybrid of remote and in-office resources 40. The pandemic also has businesses prioritizing investments in cloud-based software 65 remote IT 63 support and collaboration software 52.Hardware such as laptops and printers were another important consideration especially for companies based in France with 22 of respondents citing it as the most important need when it comes to technology productivity and their overall work experience.Our Takeaway COVID-19 is feeding digital transformation plans and companies are placing a renewed focus on meeting employees needs with both hardware and software.
