Executive Summary

Managing a remote workforce at scale is challenging. Many companies weren’t prepared for this abrupt and mandatory switch to distributed work. To sustain this working model, companies need to consider how their people and processes strategies enable employee success.

How many employees are working from home because of COVID-19?

A vast majority of knowledge workers shifted to remote work at the beginning of the pandemic. Estimates differ because of several factors: when the surveys were taken, where respondents were geographically located (and when their regions planned to reopen), and what each respondent’s role and type of company were.

What are the main challenges when working from home?

Each employee has a unique set of challenges based on their at-home circumstances. Despite hardships, day-to-day work must continue. Survey data indicates that productivity hasn’t been hindered, but many workers are struggling with communicating and collaborating in this distributed environment. Employees are looking to company leaders for clearer updates and streamlined information-sharing, as well as for resources beyond the typical scope of benefits.

Are companies using more collaborative tools?

Adoption has surged. Our October 2020 forecast estimates that 69.0% of US companies with over 100 employees will use communication and collaboration tools in 2020. That’s an increase of 15 percentage points from 2019, when 54.0% of companies employed such tools.

What is the future of work after the coronavirus?

Workplace transformation is unfolding at a rapid pace and will shape the corporate world for decades. The future will likely be a hybrid model of remote and in-office work in which employees have increased flexibility and the office is reserved for occasional check-ins and meetings. Some companies are already running pilot programs to see what a return to the office might look like.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? The coronavirus pandemic forced businesses to move to a distributed employee model very abruptly. This report will detail the best people and processes strategies for making remote work sustainable.

KEY STAT: Across various facets of the employee experience, there was more than a 30% gap between how many executives worldwide said they were supporting their employees and how many employees worldwide reported feeling supported by their companies, per IBM Institute for Business Value and Oxford Economics research from April to July 2020.