3 in 4 HR Execs Expect Teleworking to Continue Long After Pandemic
If you’ve been struggling to adjust to working from home, a new survey suggests you might have to get used to it.
The Conference Board, a business membership organization and think tank, surveyed leaders in human resources (HR) to learn how their companies were planning to move forward during the pandemic. While loosening restrictions across the country are clearing the way for employers to begin bringing workers back into the workplace, a majority of companies surveyed plan to keep their employees working from home for the foreseeable future.
The rise of the remote worker
When the pandemic began and stay-at-home orders were issued, companies sent their workers home for what many saw as a temporary move to limit the transmission of the coronavirus. Some companies were not accustomed to having a remote workforce, and experienced challenges with collaboration and the management of workers who were primarily off-site.
However, with many of the initial kinks being worked out, some companies are looking at remote working as a more permanent solution. In fact, 77% of the HR executives surveyed by The Conference Board said they expect more employees to work from home at least three days a week even one year after the pandemic has substantially subsided.
Some industries may be more likely to depend heavily on a remote workforce, the study found. For example, information technology workers and financial services employees had a high work-from-home rate before the pandemic, according to The Conference Board, and they are likely to continue having high rates of employees working remotely.
The question of productivity
Even before the pandemic, there were questions about whether working remotely made people more or less productive. The Conference Board study suggests that productivity when working remotely may rise over time, as people adjust to telecommuting.
Among companies that had at least 10% of their workforce working primarily from home before the pandemic, 37% said they noticed increased productivity during the pandemic. On the flip side, among companies that had less than 10% of employees working remotely before the pandemic, 41% said they noticed a decrease in productivity during the pandemic.
The implications for employment prospects
Remote working could also have a positive impact on employees’ job prospects, the survey suggests. Companies “will be able to recruit workers from a broader geographic pool,” said Robin Erickson, co-author of the report and principal researcher at The Conference Board, in a press release. That means a worker might be more likely to get a job in a different region of the country without having to relocate.
However, the pandemic is also likely to have more negative impacts on employment in the coming months. According to respondents, permanent layoffs and major restructurings were more likely to occur between May and July of 2020 if they were to happen.
Among respondents, 16% expected their companies to institute permanent layoffs during that three-month period, and 9% said they expected their companies to hold a major restructuring during that window.
Methodology: The Conference Board surveyed 152 human resources executives between April 15-28, 2020. More than 60% of respondents represented the business and professional services, manufacturing and health care sectors.
