Remote operation changes the working day
The shift to working from home has had a major impact on people's lives, but one of the unexpected effects is how it has changed the working day.
New research from digital experience management company Aternity shows that in the Northeast and West regions of the US the working day starts and ends between 30 and 60 minutes later for remote workers compared to those in offices.
However, the opposite is true in the Midwest region, with remote workers there starting work several hours earlier in comparison to in-office workers. The report's authors believe this reflects the Midwest's manufacturing base, with administrative staff who support round-the-clock manufacturing operations now doing so from home.
The percentage of remote work carried out in the US has risen from around 30 percent in January to 85 percent in April. Europe shows a rise from around 25 percent to 79 percent but with similar shifts in the working day.
In Spain and Sweden, remote workers are starting their day one to two hours later in the morning and ending later in the evening. Remote workers in France spread their activity more evenly throughout the day, while working day patterns of remote and office workers have remained largely the same in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.
The report also looks at the use of the main collaboration tools. As of April 6, Zoom usage grew 574 percent from its base usage in mid-February, followed by GoToMeeting and Teams. As of April 6, Skype for Business has the highest usage share of all collaboration tools in large enterprises at 57 percent -- though this is down on its February level -- whereas Zoom is at just seven percent.
The majority of workers are spending most of their time in just a few applications, with Microsoft Office accounting for 38 percent of the total usage time, the highest share of usage coming from Outlook as email replaces face-to-face meetings.
You can read more about changing work patterns on the Aternity blog.
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