50% of Employees Won’t Return to Workplace Offices After Covid, TRANSEARCH Survey Finds

50% of Employees Won’t Return to Workplace Offices After Covid, TRANSEARCH Survey Finds

A new survey of American executives indicates 50% of employees will continue to work from home after the lockdown and businesses will shift their priorities to focus on being more agile and prepared for change.

The survey’s findings also illustrate that despite the unprecedented changes resulting from the pandemic, businesses are not generally changing their existing talent plans.

“Many employees and companies have proven they have the tools available to continue to work collaboratively, efficiently and with positive results, while still being remote,” says Bridget Papanicholas, chief operating officer and head of search and business operations at TRANSEARCH, a global executive search firm.

Key results of the survey of nearly 100 executives at businesses in 10 sectors include the following:

l 50% of employees will continue to work from home, whereas only 23% worked from home before Covid-19

l 30% of organizations made no changes to their talent acquisition plans for 2020

l Nearly 60% of respondents want their leaders to improve their skills at leading change

l While over 40% of businesses have experienced cashflow challenges and decreased demand, 23% have experienced increased demand

l The top three ‘people priorities’ post-pandemic are improving organizational agility and flexibility, retaining current talent and succession plans

The survey provided insight into the core skills executives feel are imperative for leadership teams to have in order to excel beyond Covid-19 and handle crises in the future.

“These results show that executives are looking for leaders who not only lead change, but can anticipate change. They must have the foresight to inoculate their companies from the negative impacts of change and build teams and cultures that will help businesses avoid the disruption of the ‘next Covid-19,” says Papanicholas.

“Although a significant number of companies have imposed hiring freezes and layoffs, the survey shows that a nearly a third of companies aren’t changing their talent acquisition plans, which means they still want to continue developing their team’s skills and continue to search for people who will take on the most critical roles in their organizations.”

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