“Change is the only constant in the business world”
-Mike Ross, founder of Juniper consulting
The last few years brought unforeseen disruptions to the way people work.
Hardly a surprise.
It made organizations discover the value of adaptability and resilience.
And for us employees, it challenged our expectations of the workplace.
But more than anything, it marked a critical time for HR at organizations.
Throughout the last few years, companies were in a time crunch to respond to ongoing regulatory updates, and leaders were called to make difficult decisions in the face of uncertainty. The digital workplace, thought to be decades away, reached offices in a span of a few weeks. It triggered a chain of digital transformations, redefining the role of HR and introducing new business priorities.
Here are essential stats that will give you a snapshot of what has been accomplished and what’s coming for remote working, digital employee experience (DEX), and the HR software market. Feel free to pass these findings along to your team.
Quick Links
Remote Working Statistics
Digital Employee Experience (DEX) Statistics
HR Software Statistics
Remote work statistics
Transition to remote working was a bolt from the blue. It broke the mould of the traditional 9-to-5 on-site workplace and raised a bar for employee experience.
Those who worked remote pre-pandemic and had a culture of adaptability hit the home run. They enjoyed invigorated productivity and performance.
However, remote work muddied the line between home and work. It created pressure for some employees to be “always-on” and work after hours, resulting in digital fatigue. That led to more HR leaders prioritizing company culture and employee wellbeing for new initiatives.
Now that restrictions are easing up, will companies continue to work from home or go back on-site? The future remains uncertain, but one thing is clear - the workplace of the future promises to be more flexible, agile, and result-driven.
How much has remote work increased in 2020?
85% of global leaders reported accelerated digitization at their company since the pandemic began (McKinsey,2020)
62% of employees worked from home in early April 2020, 2X more than in mid-March (31%) (Gallup, 2020).
Currently, 51% of employees work from home part-time or full-time, up from 22% pre-pandemic (Gallagher, 2021).
Benefits of remote working
83% of leaders said the shift to remote work was successful for their company (PWC, 2020)
53% of executives and 34% of employees believe that work from home improved productivity (PWC, 2021)
What helped companies successfully transition to remote working?
More than 60% of HR professionals said that having technology in place before the pandemic helped with a smooth transition to remote work (Workable, 2020)
69% of senior leaders credit much of their success during the pandemic to culture as it helps successful change initiatives happen. (PWC,2021)
Work from home challenges
As more companies were going remote, 85% of employees have experienced higher levels of burnout (Gartner, 2021).
46% of workers said they had fewer interactions with colleagues since shifting to work from home (Gartner, 2020)
Interactions outside of one’s team have especially declined, creating organizational silos (Microsoft, 2021).
37.4% of HR professionals see remote onboarding/training as their top challenge (Workable, 2020)
87% of companies either are experiencing skill gaps now or expect them within a few years (McKinsey, 2020)
80% of remote workers want to receive training for hard skills, yet only 49% recently did so (Talentlms, 2021)
Forcing employees to work on-site could cost organizations up to 39% of their workforce. (Gartner, 2021)
73% of employees want flexible remote work to stay (Microsoft, 2021)
40% of HR leaders see managing hybrid workplace as their top workforce priority (PWC, 2021)
Upcoming changes
81.1% of recruiters see remote work, flexibility, and work-life balance to become more critical in attracting talent (Workable, 2020)
67.4% of recruiters believe adaptability is the most valuable trait in a candidate when hiring in the post-pandemic world (Workable, 2020)
70% of employers intend to engage more temporary workers and freelancers than they had before the pandemic (McKinsey, 2020)
69% of internal comms professionals are planning to increase communications around employee wellbeing. (Gallagher,2021)
43% of companies are planning culture change initiatives (Gallagher,2021)
Digital employee experience statistics
HR and IT departments want something to help standardize these applications and bring them together.”
-Josh Bersin, HR industry analyst and founder at Bersin by Deloitte
More companies can resonate with Josh’s words now.
In the absence of on-site collaboration and watercooler moments, the quality of interactions with a workplace technology (or DEX) makes or breaks employee engagement and productivity.
It’s no wonder more companies are adopting a design-thinking mindset and investing in people analytics and AI self-service tools to improve DEX.
State of digital employee experience (DEX)
In a year since the pandemic, workers spend 2X more time in virtual meetings (Microsoft, 2021)
The weekly use of MS Teams is 45% higher than it was before 2020 (Microsoft, 2021)
The use of AI self-service tools nearly doubled, yet only around half of the companies find it effective (Gallagher,2021).
78% of employees use 6-10 digital tools on average just for day-to-day communication (Socialchorus, 2020)
49% of employees are willing to leave their job if they are unhappy with workplace tech (Workfront, 2021)
32% of workers said they quit their job because technology "was a barrier to their ability to do good work." This is up from 22% pre-pandemic (Workfront, 2021)
HR executives are ranking employee experience design among their top three initiatives in the next 2-3 years (KPMG, 2020)
Only 27% of companies have a clear strategy to address digital employee experience (Gallagher,2021)
How far have companies gone with capturing feedback and tracking employee usage?
53% of organizations reported that their leaders’ interest in workforce information has grown (Deloitte, 2020)
28% of companies increased tracking of their staff from April to July 2020 (Gartner, 2020)
Employees are 2X times more likely to pretend to be working when companies are tracking them (Gartner, 2021)
Projected investments
30% of businesses plan to spend more on a cloud, security and risk, networks, and mobility. (Forrester, 2021).
41% of HR executives intend to focus on the adoption of digital tools to drive growth (PWC,2021)
27% of HR leaders are planning to invest in workplace analytics tools to analyze employees' digital activities (PWC,2021)
Regulatory and legal action related to employee privacy infringements is forecasted to double in the next 12 months (Forrester, 2021).
Data breaches caused by insider incidents are projected to grow to reach 33% in 2021. (Forrester, 2021).
78% of US executives expect to invest more in cybersecurity and data privacy (PWC, 2021)
HR software market statistics
-Josh Bersin, HR industry analyst and founder at Bersin by Deloitte
HR market is expected to reach USD 43.29 billion by 2028.
The growth is currently driven by the adoption of HR software that helps with workflow automation and talent management.
Transition to a hybrid workplace will increase the importance of digital employee experience, fueling demand for workforce analytics and collaboration software.
12.2% - expected compound annual growth of HR market from 2021 to 2028. (Grandview research, 2021)
33% - revenue share of the core HR software segment (payroll admin, time management and compliance software). (Grandview research, 2021)
20% - revenue share of IT & telecom, the largest end-user segment of HRM solutions. (Grandview research, 2021)
Sabina Saetgareeva is a Digital Marketing Specialist at ORIGAMI. She helps infuse ORIGAMI brand with what customers need and seek. Sabina is an avid reader of the future of work, digital transformation, and trends in Digital Employee Experience.