According to an Envoy and Hanover Research survey, 80% of US senior executives would have approached their company’s return-to-office strategy differently if they had access to workplace data to inform their decision. The report notes that “individual biases and limited perspectives can turn out to be costly.” Many businesses are sending their workers back to the office, with even remote working poster child Zoom restructuring its hybrid model and sending folks to a desk. However, reports suggest that many executives regret calling employees back to the office without proper data and analysis.
And per Eptura’s Q2 Workplace Index, desk bookings across the UK have risen 73 percent year-over-year. That report also noted that while much was made of people relocating to more affordable, desirable properties farther from the office during the pandemic, the real picture is “somewhat different.” Eptura said the vast majority of those it surveyed (73 percent) have always lived within commuting distance of their office (the highest being 81 percent in the US and the lowest being 54 percent in France). Overall, it said only 9 percent of those surveyed have moved away and not subsequently returned.
For context, per Dice.com, Tech job postings declined in the first half of 2023, but organizations continued investing in automation, modernization, cloud capabilities, and emerging AI solutions. IT job posting volume in the sector fell to under 44,000 in June, a 30% year-over-year drop from more than 62,000 last June, the report said. Rising salaries, low unemployment, and economic uncertainty led enterprises to seek outside consultants for digital transformation planning and execution. Despite the downturn, there weren’t enough technologists to satisfy enterprise appetite for data science, software engineering, cloud architecture, web design, and other digital skills.
And, According to Bernstein Research, the tech job recession is over as layoffs have slowed down significantly. In the first half of 2023, over 300,000 tech employees were laid off, but in August, there were only 4,937 job cuts. The generative AI boom and raising billions of dollars by AI startups have helped limit the damage. Many big tech companies have also halted layoffs; some have even begun to rehire staff they let go only a few months ago.
In IT specifically, New research by Ivanti shows that a quarter of IT professionals are considering leaving their jobs within six months, with burnout and loss of connection to colleagues being significant factors. IT staff are 1.4 times more likely to disengage and ‘quiet quit’ their jobs than other knowledge workers. A significant factor is a 73 percent increase in workloads due to hybrid or remote working, leading to one in four suffering from burnout. Twenty-three percent of IT staff cite a loss of connection to colleagues compared to just 17 percent of general office workers. IT workers are also 2.5 times more likely to work longer hours when working remotely. Among the quarter considering quitting their jobs, 31 percent report that their mental health is suffering. Despite this, 84% of respondents want to continue working remotely at least some of the time.
Longtime listeners will be shocked, shocked, I say, to learn I’m not surprised that a bunch of executives went on their “gut” rather than data and now regret it. Most people didn’t up and move away. The tech recession was short-lived and not nearly as deep or dramatic as reported. But IT is still a tricky business.
I’m a bit of a broken record, but investments in culture and organization pay off. And clearly, it’s hard – everyone would have done it, and these numbers would be better if they had. We like complex problems, as they allow us to excel and differentiate.