TeamViewer Survey: Businesses Prepare for Post-Pandemic ‘Hybrid’ Workforce with New Policies, Tech Infrastructure

75% of companies surveyed grew in 2020 while remote, but now address challenges of 'Zoom fatigu/centere', 'team cohesion' and 'collaboration'

TAMPA BAY, Fla, April 22, 2021 - A research project sponsored by TeamViewer, a global leader in secure remote connectivity solutions, found that 75% of businesses grew during the pandemic, thriving in a remote environment, but now eye new policies and tech infrastructure to support a clear trend toward a longer-term hybrid work environment.

According to the survey of 200 professionals across a range of industries, which was completed in March 2021, businesses have already begun shifting away from full remote and moving toward a hybrid workforce. More than half (52%) of respondents currently work remotely while 30% are part time at home and part time in the office, and 18% are full time in the office. By the end of 2021, 42% expect to be remote, 30% expect to be hybrid and 29% in the office/ workplace. Longer term, the most anticipated policy change in 2021 includes a hybrid schedule of '2 day in the office per week.'

'During the past year, businesses have demonstrated their remarkable ability to grow and thrive in a remote work environment,' said Finn Faldi, President - Americas at TeamViewer. 'Looking beyond the Pandemic, we're now seeing companies reimagine fundamental workplace structures that favor a hybrid work arrangement, relying on technology that will seamlessly connect both in-office and remote employees wherever they are located.'
Many respondents indicated a desire to stay full remote with 46% saying they would 'definitely' relocate, and 32% saying they would 'probably relocate' within the next 2 years if they had the ability to work remotely. In fact, 34% said they would 'probably' be willing to take a pay cut and 30% said they would 'definitely' take a pay cut in exchange for being able to work remote indefinitely.

As the workforce skews increasingly toward remote/ hybrid arrangements, most respondents agree there are significant technology and process challenges, including team cohesion (13%), collaboration (13%), and managing through Zoom fatigue (12%). The most important technologies required to manage these challenges, according to the survey, include video conferencing (15%), IT management systems (15%) and IT security tools (13%).

Businesses are meeting these challenges with new investments in technology. More than 69% of companies surveyed are investing in new cloud architecture to power a hybrid workforce, where some employees are remote, and others are physically present. In addition, 77% of companies are reconsidering IT security to secure a hybrid workforce where some employees are remote, and others are physically present.

Other key findings:

• Companies that retain talent are more likely to workremotely: Top performing, frequently promoted employees are 46% more likely to say they expect to still be working remotely throughout 2021. Similarly, companies that retain their top-performing employees are 4x more likely to consider going completely remote even after COVID-19.
• Industries embrace in-person vs. hybrid workplaces differently: Industries moving fastest to in-person include Travel and Tourism, Real Estate and Retail while those favoring hybrid work environments include Government, Education and Healthcare.
• Most companies 'encourage' not 'require' the COVID vaccine: 49% of companies are encouraging all employees to get the COVID-19 vaccination; 27% are encouraging in-office employees to get the vaccination. Only 12% require the vaccine, and only 2% require those who are not remote to take the vaccine. Eighteen percent of employees say they would 'quit their job' if their current employer required them to get the COVID-19 vaccination.

About the Research

TeamViewer commissioned an independent market research firm to survey a random sample of 200 decision makers in the U.S. spanning a range of industries and organizational sizes, including IT, legal, finance, marketing, HR, customer support, sales, facilities and other. The study took place in February and March 2021 in partnership with TrendCandy research and Dynata, a global B2B panel provider. The study's margin of error is +/-6.9% at the 95% confidence level.