1.5Million Us Businesses Face Remote Work Crunch Point in the Next 12 Months

Global employment partner Omnipresent reveals that businesses face a crunch point in the next 12 months as the shift to remote and hybrid teams continues to gather pace. Conducted in partnership with YouGov, the survey of 500 US business leaders revealed that 94% of US businesses surveyed who are planning to adopt a remote or hybrid model will do so within the next 12 months. Omnipresent estimates this equates to nearly 1.5M businesses across the country.*

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However, when questioned about the execution and delivery of new working models, the research revealed some worrying trends:

Only 26% of responding leaders plan to consult internal HR teams, but 50% plan to consult board members and the leadership team.

• Despite this, the expectation to deliver remote solutions lies exclusively with HR teams for a third (33%) of senior leaders, revealing a disconnect between planning and execution expectations.
• Only 12% and 11% of respondents are concerned about compliance issues and providing local benefits respectively, therefore opening themselves up to serious risk of fines and employee dissatisfaction.

The survey also revealed the important role technology will play for businesses planning to make the transition to hybrid or remote working models in the next 12 months:

• 50% of respondents said they will rely on outsourced service providers or technology platforms for the execution and delivery of new working models.
• This is further supported by nearly 69% surveyed saying they are either very likely (40%) or fairly likely (29%) to invest in new technology and/or software resources to make a smooth transition to remote/ hybrid working.

When questioned why they plan to adopt a hybrid or remote model:

• 48% of responding executives who currently have or plan to adopt a remote working model said talent priorities are driving their organizations to adopt a fully remote working model (32% and 28% respectively citing “accessing a more specialized talent pool” and “retaining talent” as top reasons).
• Employee wellbeing is also top of mind for responding executives and organizations: 35% cite this as a top reason for embracing a new working model.

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The research comes alongside the launch of The Globalization of Teams, a report written in collaboration with former BBC journalist and economics expert Laurence H Knight. The report hypothesizes that global teams represent the next big globalization, following the rise of the internet in the 1990s and the growth of global capital markets in the 1970s.

This phenomenon will have a profound impact on the global economy and society:

• It will result in an increased rate of innovation and economic growth through greater cross-cultural knowledge sharing.
• It will impact the make-up of megacities with a reshuffling of people out of expensive metropoles and into more affordable villages, towns and cities.
• It will drive the adoption of a new, open, inclusive global team culture and an equalization of salaries.

Co-CEO and Co-founder of Omnipresent Matthew Wilson says, “We’ve seen how the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated remote work trends. Seemingly every week now, a different company announces its intention to offer its employees the opportunity to work fully remotely or as a hybrid team, from Airbnb to Spotify and many in between. Ambitious companies are realizing that if they hire remotely, they can hire globally too and bring on the smartest people anywhere on the globe. We’re now on the cusp of a revolution that will change our world like never before – but leaders must be attuned to the complexities of global hiring, or risk reputational damage.”

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