What will work look like in 2021? Here are the trends and data that can help us know what to expect in the workplace for 2021

1. What Will Work
Look Like In 2021?
[Trends&Stats]
Stefania Rossi • 15.12.2020
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2. Overview
What will work like in 2021?
December 2020 update
What happened in 2020
● Big shocks due to the pandemic and
economic downturns
● Massive, global shift to remote work
What will happen in 2021?
● More remote work
● More investments on digital products
● Cyber security threats
● Online customer support
● Economic instability
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3. 1) The Future Is Remote
● According to Gartner, 88% of
organizations have encouraged or
required their employees to work from
home and 91% of teams in the Asia Pacific
have implemented ‘work from home’ since
the COVID-19 outbreak.
● In a survey by Owlab, 31% respondents
said that COVID-19 was the trigger to
begin allowing remote work at their
company.
● Global Workplace Analytics
estimates that 25-30% of the
workforce will be working at
home on a multiple-days-a-week
basis by the end of 2021
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4. 2) Remote Will Stay In 2021 And Beyond
● Big companies like
Twitter, Microsoft, Uber,
and Google are leading
the way and will continue
to offer remote work as
an option indefinitely.
● According to a survey from Harvard
Business School, one in six workers is
projected to continue working from home
or co-working at least two days a week.
● Another survey from Upwork found that
one-fifth of the workforce could be
entirely remote after the pandemic.
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5. 3) Remote Is Better (With Or Without A
Pandemic)
● Remote work can help reduce
expenses for companies. A typical
employer is projected to save about
$11,000/year in travel expenses for
every person who works remotely half
of the time. Employees can save
between $2,500 and $4,000 a year
(working remotely half the time) and
more if they move to a less expensive
area and work remotely full time.
● A Stanford study found that remote
workers are 13% more productive
when compared to their in-office
counterparts.
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6. 4) It’s Also A Digital Transformation
● Forrester showed that last year, 85% of firms viewed digital as
“nice to have”. In 2020, every company learned that digital is
critical to customer and business success. This will likely result in
increased spending on digital products in 2021.
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7. 5) The SaaS Solutions Arise
● In 2021, Forrester expects 50% of enterprises to make cloud-centric transformation a
priority, moving all their business-critical operational apps, and all experience apps into
the cloud.
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8. 6) More Security Concerns
● A survey from Malwarebytes showed that, among the biggest concerns of companies
going remote, 45% said their number 1 concern was that devices may be more exposed
at home where employees feel safe
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9. 7) The Relationship With The Customer Is
(Mostly) Online
● According to Kustomer, live chat continues to grow in popularity with consumers, now
ranking as the second most popular channel for customer service. The trend is not going
anywhere anytime soon and will definitely continue through 2021.
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10. 8) Pandemic Ain’T Over Yet (Sadly)
● As of December 2020, the global pandemic isn’t showing signs of slowing down so far.
● Although vaccines and antibody treatments are on the way (*) and possibly coming
soon, experts warn that the way out of the pandemic won’t be a short one.
(*) As of December 2020
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11. 9) But There’s Light At The End Of The
Tunnel
● Goldman Sachs reported seeing a prosperous 2021 in the US, but it predicts a bumpy
road for the US economy before it gets there.
● The OECD stated that “The global economy will gain momentum over the coming two
years, with global GDP at pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2021. After a sharp decline
this year, global GDP is projected to rise by around 4.2% in 2021 and a further 3.7% in
2022”
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12. Best of luck for 2021
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13. Sources
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https://blog.timeneye.com/work-trends-2021/
https://www.owllabs.com/blog/coronavirus-work-from-home-statistics
https://www.riverbed.com/blogs/15-surprising-stats-on-remote-work-due-to-covid-19.html#_edn1
https://globalworkplaceanalytics.com/work-at-home-after-covid-19-our-forecast
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/354872
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/just-small-shift-remote-work-could-change-everything/614980/
https://go.forrester.com/blogs/digital-business-predictions-2021/
https://nbloom.people.stanford.edu/
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2020/0826/1161366-jobsie-remote-working-survey/
https://employeebenefits.co.uk/employees-pay-cut-work-remotely/
https://resources.malwarebytes.com/files/2020/08/Malwarebytes_EnduringFromHome_Report_FINAL.pdf
https://www.kustomer.com/guides/what-consumers-expect-from-the-customer-experience/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradbirnbaum/2020/11/24/what-will-customer-service-look-like-in-the-months-to-come-predictions-for-2021/?sh=6460543f41ad
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/13/goldman-sees-strong-economy-in-2021-but-its-going-to-get-worse-before-it-gets-better.html
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/economy/oecd-predicts-42-global-growth-in-2021/2062060