Hybrid and remote work here to stay for most businesses

A new study finds that 94 percent of organizations shifted to some sort of hybrid work structure due to the pandemic and 71 percent plan to make these practices permanent.

The study from Foundry, based on responses from over 400 IT and business decision-makers in the US, shows 72 percent of IT decision-makers believe there has been a positive shift in the remote and hybrid work mindset due to the work-from-home transition.

"When lockdown began more than two years ago, businesses were left to figure out how to ensure their employees remain productive under the new, challenging circumstances," says Stacey Raap, marketing and research manager at Foundry. "This proved largely successful and once all the benefits of working from home became apparent, they began to rethink the structure of how their entire company works."

The shift is having an effect on future plans, 69 percent of IT decision-makers agree that the work-from-home shift is impacting how they plan for overall office space, tech staffing and overall staffing. When asked where they expect their workforce to be for the foreseeable future, 41 percent of respondents say 'hybrid', 29 percent 'office only' and 30 percent 'remote only.'

In addition 62 percent agree that the work-from-home shift has forced the creation of new, more efficient workflows and processes. Long-lasting technology initiatives cited include maintaining a hybrid workforce (65 percent), adoption of new security solutions for remote work (63 percent), maintaining a remote workforce (53 percent), greater investment in security and risk management (53 percent), maintaining a remote IT workforce (50 percent) and increased investment in technology to improve customer/employee experience (49 percent).

"With remote and hybrid work here to stay, it's up to decision-makers at companies to figure out the right tools and processes needed to ensure this working model is sustainable for the long haul, and provide their employees with everything they need to do their jobs successfully," Raap adds. "Technology vendors will be instrumental in helping IT and business leaders address these needs."

On the other side of the coin, concerns about the change include ensuring efficient collaboration (51 percent), morale and burnout (47 percent) and security maintenance (38 percent). Also 40 percent of respondents agree that creating an equitable and collaborative experience for hybrid teams is proving to be a great challenge.

An executive summary of the report is available from the Foundry site.

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