Although all the remaining pandemic restrictions in England were lifted back in March, millions of workers continue to work from home or have flexible working arrangements, such as three days in the office and two days at home.
Recent research by video conferencing software Zoom, and leading job site Indeed.com, found that some of the north’s cities were amongst the UK’s top ‘Zoom hotspots’, where companies are letting staff work from home most.
The figures analysed by Zoom compared the job postings on Indeed. com that offered candidates the
flexibility to work remotely to reveal which areas had the greatest number of hybrid working or working from home vacancies.
The data from between February 2020 and March 2022, shows these vacancies have more than tripled and also grown at a faster pace than the local jobs market overall – indicating that the rise in remote roles over the last two years has driven up opportunity in each area.
During the pandemic, adoption of video conferencing tools like Microsoft Teams and Zoom by SMEs was higher in the UK than in any other G7 country, and these figures are beginning to show how greater availability of hybrid roles are expanding opportunities in areas outside of London and the Southeast.
Zoom’s Head of UK & EMEA North, Phil Perry, said: “The UK has the potential to be a global leader in hybrid working, and Indeed’s data shows how greater access to remote roles is already helping to drive growth in overall opportunities all across the country. This underlines the vital role hybrid technologies can play in levelling up the country and getting the conditions right now will help the UK reap long-term economic benefits.”
However traditional working practices and the workplace technologies that support them are barriers to effectiveness.
According to a report by the Wales Institute of Social and Economic Research and Data, 28.9% of people
surveyed said that they got more done, while 30.2% said that their productivity had fallen while working from home.
Meanwhile, a survey by Microsoft carried out in November and December 2020 found that 30 per cent
of workers reported an increase in their hours whilst working from home.
The same report found 60% felt less connected to teams and colleagues. With mixed findings about productivity and collaboration, no wonder so many businesses struggling to finding their ‘new normal’ or returning to ‘business as usual’.
Gateshead based Agilico Workplace Technology is helping to keep organisations across the UK fully
operational and delivering the highest levels of service – no matter what. Their Business Agility 1-2-3 offering centres around three key digital approaches that can help overcome the primary challenges faced in becoming more agile, robust and efficient.
Stay connected by investing in a flexible and fit for purpose hosted telephony system, like Agilico Connect, that allows your team to stay connected no matter where they are, be it at a desk, on a mobile or via Microsoft Teams.
Stay responsive with a hybrid mail solution to give your teams the power to print, package and post documents to your customers and business contacts at the click of a button – from any location.
Stay Productive and harness the power of Verify, Agilico’s accounts payable automaton software that
can scan, categorise and file invoices automatically to make them accessible to your approvers anytime, anywhere. Home working? Hybrid working? Or even back in the office?
Wherever your team may need to be, create a workplace that is robust, resilient and ready for anything.
