SAN FRANCISCO, CA (MPG) – A new survey and economic analysis by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and commissioned by Zoom focused on what industries were able to pivot their business processes using video conferencing, resulting in business continuity and even growth during a time of significant economic turmoil. The resulting report, prepared by Zoom based on the survey data and findings made by BCG, spans key industries and six countries around the globe, specifically looking at five U.S. states as well.  

“A hybrid approach will also be necessary when it comes to fostering and retaining talent. The pandemic spawned a more geographically diverse workforce — people moved out of certain regions, they applied to and accepted jobs under a remote context. With a widespread, global workforce, creating a hybrid workforce is not a luxury, it’s a necessity.” – Zoom blog post. 

Key findings from the BCG survey found that businesses are more open than before the pandemic for a flexible work schedule. Specifically, in the U.S. businesses surveyed expect over a third of employees to work remotely after the pandemic and 65% of businesses surveyed agree or strongly agree that they are considering a flexible remote working model because of successful collaboration through video conferencing solutions. 

Furthermore, BCG’s COVID-19 employee sentiment survey from 2020 showed that 72% of U.S. managers surveyed are more open to flexible remote working models than they were before the pandemic.

In California, the survey and analysis found - 4% average increase in revenue of SMBs surveyed, 2019-2020;

88% of SMBs surveyed agree “Employees at my company rapidly adopted video conferencing solutions with limited training;”  87% of SMBs surveyed agree “Employees at my company found video conferencing solutions easy to use, leading to a smoother transition to remote work;” 82% of SMBs surveyed agree “Video conferencing solutions helped boost morale and mental well-being of employees at my company during the pandemic.”