A majority of organisations worldwide have witnessed strong productivity gains in Q3 2020 by allowing employees to work remotely; however, employees are being impacted by the feeling of being “always-on”, according to a new report by the Capgemini Research Institute.

The report, “The future of work: from remote to hybrid”, found that employee productivity grew at 63% of organisations during the third quarter of 2020 due to less commuting time, flexible work schedules and the adoption of effective virtual collaboration tools. The report surveyed executives from 500 organisations covering a range of sectors globally and 5,000 employees.

While employee productivity has gone up recently, employees have expressed concerns about remote working in the long-term. More than half, or 56%, feel apprehensive of the expectations of being ‘always on’, and younger workers need more support to deal with the stress associated with uncertainty as this statistic rises to 60% of employees between the ages of 26-35. These concerns raise questions about whether productivity gains can be sustained in the long-term for a successful hybrid working model.

IT and digital functions (68%) lead the way in productivity, followed by customer service (60%) and sales and marketing (59%). Digitisation and the use of technologies like AI has helped organisations to see improved productivity in these areas. Functions like production/manufacturing, research and development (R&D)/innovation and the supply chain, which involve more on-premise work and a higher proportion of blue-collar workers, represent the lowest percentage of organisations to have reported a productivity increase (as low as 51%).

Organisations project an overall productivity rise of 17% in the next two to three years. Furthermore, 88% have realised real estate cost savings thanks to remote working in the last three to four months, and 92% expect savings in the next two to three years.

Meanwhile, nearly 70% of organisations believe that the productivity gains of remote working are sustainable beyond the pandemic. However, according to the report this will highly depend on how quickly organisations learn and reorient themselves, factoring in changes in employee mindset and building individual and organisational resilience.

“In order to continue realising remote working benefits and manage employee expectations, organisations need to find the right operating model for a more balanced hybrid approach,” Capgemini stated. “To do this, leaders need to question and rethink the effectiveness of existing structures, and break down organisational silos and barriers between teams.”

The report showed that in the next two to three years, around three in ten organisations expect more than 70% of their employees to work remotely, up from just 10% before Covid-19, and nearly half (48%) of the organisations see their total office space needs reducing by at least 10%. Additionally, around 45% of employees expect to spend three days or more per week working from remote locations going forward, indicating a fast-rising trend of a hybrid and collaborative workplace.