Quocirca Future of Work Study Tracks Rise of the Employee-centric Hybrid Workplace

September 27, 2022
Future of work, Research, Article

Demand for hybrid working and employment market turbulence are changing the role of the office and the corporate technology environment, as 42% expect to change roles in the next 12 months

Quocirca’s Future of Work 2025 study analyses how print and digital convergence is shaping today’s workplace. ‘The Future of Work, 2025’ reveals that post-pandemic transformation is proceeding at pace and that the role and requirements of the modern workplace are undergoing fundamental changes. As the energy crisis and ‘Great Resignation’ add increasing complexity to decisions by both employers and employees on the balance between home and office working, changes are set to continue.

The in-depth study was conducted among 1021 office workers and 521 IT decision-makers in SMBs and large enterprises in the UK, France, Germany, and the US.

Key findings include:

PEOPLE: a workforce in flux

• 42% intend to leave their jobs in the next year with mental health concerns and not feeling valued being key drivers for job changes.
• 69% said flexible working will force a rethink of what makes good company culture.
• 67% of businesses expect to lose talent if they don’t offer flexible work options.
• 36% of workforces are currently working remotely now and 44% will do so by 2025.

PLACE: a new purpose for the office

• The office will become an occasional destination; 56% said the physical workspace would only be used as an occasional meeting point, primarily for the purposes of in-person collaboration.
• Office footprints are changing, with 40% anticipating an increase and 35% a reduction in retained space.

PLATFORM: print-digital convergence accelerates

• Decision makers and office workers are disconnected on the future of print, with 72% of ITDMs saying print will be important by 2025, compared to only 50% of office workers.
• 32% say that digitisation of paper-based processes will be extremely important to digital transformation initiatives, rising from 15% today.
• 20% of print environments will be fully cloud-based by 2025, compared to just 4% today.

PLANET: sustainability continues to drive action

• 67% say sustainability will be a highly important credential for business by 2025.
• Print policies, cloud print management solutions and managed print services are all being used to address sustainability, with digital leaders having many more print-elated tools in place to meet sustainability goals than digital laggards*.

PROVIDER: print manufacturers are losing influence to IT services providers

• Only 16% of respondents expect their deepest relationship to be with print manufacturers by 2025, a fall from 18% today and 26% in our 2019 study.
• 26% expect their strongest relationship to be with IT Services providers in 2025.

Quocirca’s ‘The Future of Work, 2025’ report is available to subscribers and to purchase here. A complimentary executive summary and infographic can be found here.

Discussion of the effect of the energy crisis on employee work preferences and employer strategies can be found here.