A new global research report by Lenovo of 20,262 workers worldwide, has revealed that 74% of survey respondents from India agree they will continue to work from home more than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. The respondents are embracing working away from the office. However, they feel more connected to their devices than ever, as the “office” becomes wherever their technology is. This increasing shift to working from home is expected to further increase dependency on robust technology, including reliable services, and to increase organizations’ need for customizable, modern IT solutionsdeployed at scale.
· 91% Indian respondents agree that they have increased their usage of laptops during this pandemic, even higher than the global average of 85%
· 95% of survey participants in India already agree that they “became their own IT person” while working from home
· 43% of Indian respondents believe employers should invest in more tech training to power working from home in the future
Lenovo research shows more than half of the global workforce across nine markets surveyed believe they will work from home more in the future than ever before. The study, entitled “Technology and the Evolving World of Work,” looks at how employees worldwide are responding to the “new normal”, and shows that 81% of those surveyed in India confirmed a complete shift in their daily work dynamic during the last three months, even greater than the 72% of respondents globally who agreed with the same statement.
Sometimes Productivity Comes with Downsides.
As technology has powered work-from-home across India, surveyed workers expressed overall concerns overall around security and about heavy reliance on tech connectivity to get the job done.82% of therespondentsfrom India said that their biggest concern was personal data protection. As the fear of being vulnerable to data breaches rises, companies will need to be more attentive towards enhanced security for their employees’ hardware, software and services (including deployment, set-up and maintenance) from the get-go. This is becoming especially critical within today’s remote work environment.
Indian employees also identified diminishing work-life balance as a major drawback, with70% feeling it is important to have separate devices (personal computers / phones) for work and their personal life.
Seveninten employees surveyed globally, and over 91% in India, said they purchased new technology to navigate working remotely. Nearly 40% of those surveyed worldwide have had to partially or fully fund their own tech upgrades.
Flexibility Isn’t Just Expected, It’s Required.
Although most respondents from India say technology makes them efficient and more productive, employees also expressed additional views related to new and emerging technology:
● 78% of respondents in India believe that the technology they use at work is becoming more intuitive and user-friendly
● 84% of Indian respondents think they could do their job better if they had better technology skills
● On the downside, 62% respondents in India are concerned that new technologies could even eliminate their job
Technology and the Evolving World of Work Overview
Lenovo Intelligent Devices Group’s “Technology and the Evolving World of Work” research study explores the perspective of employed adults in 10 markets – the United States, Brazil, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, China, India and Japan – as a resource for business leaders and tech suppliers around the world to understand employee needs amidst a dramatic shift in their way of working. A total of 20,262 respondents were surveyed between May 8-14, 2020 about their experience with technology in the workplace and the impact of COVID-19 on their preferences, connectivity and work/life balance.
