Most IT decision-makers believe that hybrid working will be the new norm as businesses begin to encourage staff to return to the office.
See also: Microsoft turns Teams and Outlook into hybrid work-friendly tools
The pressure is on for organizations to support new forms of collaboration and reshape the employee experience, according to the Future of Work 2022 study by technology marketing firm Foundry.
The company surveyed 401 IT and business decision-makers in the US and found that 94% of organizations have implemented some type of hybrid work structure, while 72% believed there is now a more positive attitude towards hybrid work.
It also found that 69% of makers believe the work-from-home trend is impacting how they plan for overall office space, IT staff, and general staffing.
About 41% of respondents believe that hybrid working will remain in place for the foreseeable future, while 29% believe that work will return to the office and 30% believe it will be remote-only.
See also: Zoom exec: Hybrid work will stay after the pandemic
The firm found that companies with more than 1,000 employees are more likely to embrace hybrid work. About 49% of respondents foresee a hybrid future compared to 33% of small businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees.
In February, the UK government's Office for National Statistics found that the most common hybrid pattern that employees planned to use was working mostly from home and sometimes from the office .
Foundry also found that 60% of respondents have invested — or plan to invest — in security controls, such as multi-factor authentication , endpoint detection and response, and VPN .
Nearly half (49%) of companies surveyed said remote and hybrid working had changed the way customers choose to interact with them. The most impacted were organizations in the education (65%), high-tech (57%) and services (61%) sectors.
Collaboration remains a major issue, according to Foundry. More than half (51%) cite it as a challenge, with more organizations from manufacturing ( 72%) and retail (80%) concerned about how to support collaboration among employees .
See also: Apple PCs: They are more advantageous than Windows for hybrid work
Also, a third of respondents are trying to figure out the best way to host hybrid meetings and 30% are concerned about reduced productivity.
On a positive note, given higher resignations and difficulties filling vacancies, 42% of respondents agree that today's work-from-home option has made it easier to hire for open positions.
Information source: zdnet.com
