As Few as 13% of Professionals Expect Full-Time Return to Office
Before the Covid-19 pandemic bumped office workers out of the office and into their living rooms, most of them worked exclusively or almost exclusively from the office. But after a year of remote work by necessity, only 13% say they expect to go back to full-time office work.
That’s according to a survey of 4,700 professionals across a wide array of industries released by “human insights platform” UserTesting.
The survey assessed the state of work as well as companies’ investments in customer experience.
Makeup of the respondents
Nearly 15% of the respondents were in software, more than 10% finance, and nearly 10% retail or e-commerce.
More than 20% came from companies with more than 1,000 employees, while about a third work for firms with 100 workers or fewer.
Thirty-five percent were in UX research, 17% design, and 16% customer experience.
The respondents came from a dozen countries across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.
State of work
Nearly 70% of the respondents said they were spending less on their workforce since the pandemic had begun. But more than 50% said workload had increased, suggesting individuals are picking up the slack.
Seventy-one percent said their businesses were in the process of implementing a digital transformation or had completed that process. That was an uptick from 56% in 2019.
It’s likely the widespread jump in e-commerce and digital capabilities throughout the pandemic propelled the figure upward.
Customer experience
Fifty percent said they were working toward customer experience goals but indicated that their strategies were responsive rather than proactive. Forty percent said they had clear, comprehensive CX strategies.
That, of course, points to room for growth in the market for vendors who can convince clients that CX is worth new investments.
Fifty-two percent said they lack time to sort through or gather customer feedback, suggesting the process could be optimized. Seventy-two percent they expect the pace with which they receive that feedback will only increase this year as customers turn to social and other channels to share their thoughts.
