ifo Institute: Coronavirus Digitalizes the German Economy
For the majority of German companies (55 percent), the coronavirus pandemic has had the effect of driving the digital transition. This is the finding of the latest Randstad ifo Personnel Manager Survey. For example, 31 percent of the companies rolled out computer programs to facilitate collaboration within the company. Another 36 percent ramped up their use of existing digital tools.
Even after the pandemic, companies want to increase their use of digital tools, and 64 percent of companies plan to hold online conferences more frequently. 59 percent of the companies intend to hold conferences no longer necessarily in person, and 61 percent will restrict business trips permanently. Increased use of digital tools can be observed across all sectors and company sizes, but is most pronounced in large companies.
The coronavirus also triggered a breakthrough in working from home: 73 percent of companies that relied on remote working to a greater extent during the pandemic plan to offer more such options in the future as well. Half of companies that had not yet ramped up their remote-working offering want to expand it in the future. In addition, a large proportion (61 percent) of companies that fear employees will be less productive when working from home are also planning to offer more comprehensive remote working options.
Nearly 800 HR managers took part in the Randstad ifo survey in the second quarter of 2020. The answers are weighted by industry sector and size of the responding company to ensure that the findings are representative of the German economy as a whole.
Survey
Working from Home and Digitalization in Light of the Coronavirus (2nd Quarter 2020)
Covid-19 has the world firmly in its grasp. In the second quarter of 2020, on behalf of Randstad Germany, the ifo Institute surveyed just under 800 German HR managers to find out what effect the virus is having on companies and their work processes.
