NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Business owners say working from home is speeding up the evolution of work.
More than 3,000 owners surveyed by Eli Diament, of Azurite Consulting in New Jersey, say working from home skills will not be getting rusty when employees return to the office.
“Thirty percent of business executives said they had picked up a digital tool for the first time for their company. Many of those are using video conferencing for the first time, communication and collaboration platforms, content creation tools, document-sharing services, and task management tools. They’re using it from scratch, and it seems to be going well,” Diament said.
However, the new technology could spell bad news for future employment numbers.
“We found that 70% of C-suite executives said that they are going to hire fewer people going forward as a result of the pandemic,” Diament explains.
Meanwhile, those who are employed may find more flexibility in hours and locations.
“Additionally, we found 95% of C-suite executives said that this was really going to adjust their need for travel going forward, and that in person meetings were no longer going to be the way of the future,” Diament adds. “Ninety percent of managers think that this is pulled forward digital transformation and it’s going to allow for permanent greater flexibility in their companies to work from home.”
Diament says his company’s survey found managers are considering how people are doing work and are “pulling forward digital transformations.”
Many forecast a V-shaped recovery ahead, but businesspeople in this survey see a rebound that could take years. Diament describes it as more like a “swoosh” shape.