Announcing our New World of Work survey report
In March 2020, Workable shifted to a fully remote working environment as COVID-19’s ugly head revealed itself to the world. Several months later, after looking at the myriad of reports, surveys, opinion pieces, and expert insights out there, we entered the discussion with a study of our very own.
With this 30-question survey, we at Workable wanted to look at how businesses pivoted over the past several months, and what they’re planning for the future – be that a “new normal”, a “new way of work”, or something else altogether.
The result is Workable’s New World of Work survey report. We think you’d be very interested in this. Out of many insights, we’re highlighting three for you:
- Remote work is the big paradigm shift.
- Digital transformation is the way to get there.
- Employee engagement (particularly in remote) and remote hiring/onboarding are huge concerns now and in the future.
Other insights from the data include:
- COVID-19 forced nearly two out of every three businesses to move fully to a remote-first environment.
- 56.5% of businesses plan to make remote permanent for at least some of their workforce going forward. Just 6.2% of businesses plan to do nothing in general.
- 68% of those going remote did it without disruption because they had the technology in place. Plus, 46.1% will prioritize tech in their plans to go remote.
- 7 in 10 education workers said they could actually go remote if they needed to – but the technology is just not there to allow that to happen.
- Candidate engagement, onboarding and evaluation are predicted to be major headaches in the new world of work. Add remote to the mix, and it becomes even more challenging.
- Senior-level executives are more worried about productivity while their employees are far more concerned about engagement.
But while there’s plenty of discussion and consensus in the three highlighted areas of the report, there is no clear solution or even a rulebook to follow in this new world of work that we’re entering.
What we know is that the traditional form of work – effectively, being roommates with your colleagues, sticking to a set schedule, being “present” at your desk – is no longer tenable. It’s like trying to drive an autonomous vehicle with a stick shift.
Remote is easy at first, and so is the tech adoption to get us there. But in the long term, the pandemic is forcing us to evolve. The numbers from our survey prove that. We may not know exactly how to go about it, but it’s now on us to figure out how to do it in the best way possible.
One respondent summed it up aptly:
“It is a road that has not been walked. I honestly don’t know what is ahead; one is only just willing to explore many different strategies until they find one that works.”
The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing crisis is unprecedented, and is already being called a seminal event in modern-day world history. There will be entire books and documentaries produced on the topic.
One day, we’ll settle into a new form of living, whatever that may be. Until then, let’s keep thinking, talking, collaborating, as we work towards a new – and very different – future.
Stay healthy,
Nikos Moraitakis
CEO, Workable
