Almost three quarters or 74% of employees of small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) do not want to return to the traditional workplace setup in the pre-pandemic era. This is one of the interesting findings of new global research commissioned by cybersecurity vendor Kaspersky.
The study, which was carried out by independent research company Censuswide, polled more than 8,000 employees in Brazil, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Turkey, UAE, the UK, and the US in October 2020. They are employed by SMBs with a workforce ranging from 10 to 250 employees.
Instead of returning to business as usual, most workers globally hint that they now prefer to take their own terms—spending more time with loved ones (47%), saving on costs (41%), and working remotely (32%).
Global employees now rethink the next normal in the workplace. Moving forward, almost 2 out of 5 workers or 39% want to ditch the traditional 9-to-5 work schedule. This number is greater for those aged 25 to 34 (44%).
Nearly a third (32%) of the respondents think that remote working is the third greatest benefit of the pandemic. This follows spending time with family (47%) and saving money (41%).
“We are facing a defining moment in time, and this is very exciting,” said Kaspersky Chief Business Officer Alexander Moiseev. “It’s clear this pandemic has accelerated digital transformation and the blending of our work and home lives. What we’re now seeing is employees using technology to own a new future, and actively taking the lead in embracing changes in pursuit of greater freedom and flexibility. Companies now have the mandate to adapt and remodel the modern workplace into something more productive, sustainable, and malleable.”
Kaspersky has these suggestions to help businesses keep secured flexible workforces:
• Empower employees to become more cyber-aware. Remote working inspires a completely new shift in the behavior and mindset of employees. Boost your workforce’s cyber-knowledge. The Kaspersky Automated Security Awareness Platform can help.
• Take key data protection measures to safeguard corporate data and devices, including switching on password protection, encrypting work devices, and ensuring data are backed up. Build security inside and outside the office. Solutions like the Kaspersky Endpoint Security Cloud can be considered.