When the US emerges from Covid-19, 70 per cent of American c-suite execs and small business owners plan to hire fewer employees to perform the same amount of work, while only 4 per cent plan to hire more people than before the pandemic.
According to a national survey of 3,500 Americans released today by Azurite Consulting for Peak Prosperity, more than a third (34 per cent) of US SMBs don’t believe they will survive if social distancing is to last until October.
The study also found that digital collaboration tools including video conferencing, team communication and collaboration software and the likes being adopted over the past few months is speeding up permanent changes in the way American companies operate.
Of the respondents, a majority (66 per cent) believe the new digital tools have permanently shifted the way they do business. One in eight expect these newly-adopted tools to be used permanently by their business going forward, and 83 percent agree that they will result in greater flexibility to work from home after the crisis.
Almost half (45 per cent) of management believe the digital tools will make their business reconsider the number of employees required in their companies.
The survey also found that working from home has resulted in gains in personal satisfaction and career introspection among managers and employees. Close to half (51 per cent) of American managers said they have a better work/life balance now, compared to 37 per cent for all other employees.
Moreover, 57 per cent of American corporate managers say they are going to prioritise job meaning (rather than money) more highly in their next professional role.
