How does the corona pandemic affect our working environment? Our new special study asks about the long-term social, technological and economic effects and focuses on the most important developments in organizations. How sustainable are the internal effects, how do political and economic decision-makers react?
Since the beginning of the year, the corona virus has been spreading around the world, teaching people that they are vulnerable and must find ways to face the pandemic. Social life, the economy, political processes and, of course, social interaction are deeply affected.
211 of the experts for digitization, technology and artificial intelligence already questioned as part of the main study took part in the special survey. In the midst of the nationwide shutdown, they were asked to deal separately with the medium to long-term effects that the pandemic would have on the world of work.
Two basic tendencies can be identified
Corona accelerates the digital transformation of the corporate world of work.
The digitization of the world of work is experiencing a significant boost through Corona: 85 percent of those surveyed believe that home office and / or mobile work will establish themselves as an alternative form of work and that digital (communication) tools will become ubiquitous work equipment.
92 percent of the experts assume that the crisis will accelerate the digital transformation in companies. They expect that digital services and customer communication channels in particular will continue to be used increasingly even after the crisis. In the long term, both the spatial as well as the temporal distribution of work will be based on the standards newly established during the crisis. 87 percent of those surveyed counter the prejudice that the largely isolated way of working leads to reduced work performance by saying that at least the same, if not more, would be worked in the home / mobile office.
The virus is forcing companies to try new things and to bring about solutions for the continuation of their daily work that are not really new - at least with regard to the world of work.
They mostly lacked legitimacy from employers and felt they were in safe waters when they hesitantly took the signs of digitization into account, but habitually placed control over trust and, for example - before the crisis - insisted on the presence culture. The pandemic is now completely disrupting familiar patterns and companies have to open up to new ways of working. Two thirds of the experts assume that everyday office life will continue to disappear in the future, one third assume that this may not necessarily be the case. Accordingly, the assumption is that in the future it will not be one solution for everyone that will determine work, but a balance between virtual and physically present office culture must be found. The diversity of working methods will be one of the most important findings from the Corona crisis in the old world of work. The time is apparently ripe for the employee who, where possible and in coordination with the teammates, decides as a responsible employee where he can best carry out his work.
The trend towards working outside the office will also significantly change the way work processes are organized in the future. 44 percent of those surveyed assume that the management culture will change from control to trust. This means a serious change, especially for traditional and hierarchical companies, especially with regard to staff management.
The second clearly recognizable tendency from the answers of the experts is that the positive effects caused by the pandemic for the sustainability of a digital work culture such as Fewer business trips, fewer flights, less traffic or commuters, the persistence of fleeing the city, the general slowing down and the increased awareness of the needs of others will not have a long-term - i.e. lasting effect. Only 17 percent of those surveyed expect that people will continue to follow a more sustainable lifestyle and work style even after overcoming the crisis.
Political initiative for more sustainability in the world of work called for
As in the main study, the study team sees this as an essential lever to act in a more resource-conserving and holistic manner in the long term: Much will depend on whether economic and political decision-makers recognize the sustainability potential of digital work and promote corresponding initiatives more strongly in the future. More sustainability can also be achieved by adapting working conditions. The best and most current example would be mobile work. This must be anchored in the companies - be it through a works agreement or in an individual contract. Due to the differences in the requirements of home office (teleworking) and mobile work, an adaptation of the legal framework for standardization in the sense of simplification - and possibly also through a right to mobile working - could support sustainability in companies.
Business, politics and society are called upon to take up the positive effects in the world of work caused by the pandemic, to develop them further and to consolidate them. With a view to the high level of acceptance of virtual communication tools and home / mobile offices, the experts confirm a willingness to change that the designers of framework conditions and laws should perceive and support accordingly.
The sustainability potential of digital work is currently great, as is the willingness to use the advantages of the new way of working. If these initiatives now find their way into legislation and operational routines and if they optimally link the individual needs with the economic goals of the company, then there are enormous opportunities for the world of work, which is changing - even without Corona. A life-threatening virus was necessary to significantly accelerate
this development, to make the advantages tangible and tangible and thus arouse desires that address both sustainability and the improved compatibility of private life and work.
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