Before the COVID-19 pandemic, if I had asked a CTO if they thought they could transition up to 70 percent of their organization’s workforce to remote work in a short period of time, they would have dismissed me, if not laughed me out of the room.

But guess what?

That shift is exactly what happened, according to a study by video conferencing company Owl Labs.

There are many things we have learned throughout this time that will help to shape how we build productive workplaces and great employee experiences. Some of the many interesting data points from the Owl Labs research include:

  • 70 percent of full-time workers in the U.S are working from home during COVID-19
  • 1 in 2 people won’t return to jobs that don’t offer remote work after COVID-19
  • 75 percent of people are the same or more productive during COVID-19 while working from home
  • 80 percent agree that there should be one day a week with no meetings at all

Our own research, conducted with OnePoll, suggests a permanent shift in how employees want to work:

  • 52 percent of respondents said they want a hybrid model where they can choose to work remotely or from the office each day
  • 16 percent indicated they have no interest in returning to the office and would prefer a permanently remote role
  • 45 percent noted that if they were to change jobs, they would only accept a role which offered flexible and remote work options

You can read more about our research here.

The market has changed, and organizations need to change, too. What was once a mobile-access strategy that was a temporary and occasional need became a work-from-anywhere strategy that is permanent and that employees want. (Early indications suggest employees are even more productive working remotely.)

Today, 80 percent of workers want to work away from the office at least three days a week. When organizations can source talent more broadly, without geographic restrictions, it gives them access to a deeper pool of potential employees. This means HR and even employees themselves will help to shape an organization’s hybrid-work strategy.

Still not convinced? Fifty-nine percent of workers say they would choose an employer based on the company’s work-from-home policies. If employers want to attract and retain the best talent, they must have a solid work-from-home strategy.

Those policies are crucial, but so is having a great technology partner to make them work. An ideal environment includes a simple-to-use and easy-to-navigate interface that delivers the best performance possible — one that can be even more secure than a traditional office environment.

Citrix is a pioneer in this space, and we have many products that have helped remote workers for years. As the market shifts toward a permanent hybrid-work model, Citrix can help organizations now with technologies like Citrix Workspace, which can help to improve productivity while ensuring secure access. All apps, SaaS resources, and virtual desktops are available from a single location, making it easy for employees to switch contexts without logging in multiple times, reducing complexity, and helping to improve productivity. Complementary solutions such as Citrix Secure Internet Access and features such as App Protection, available as part of Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops, help to protect against ransomware attacks that are have become pervasive.

Couple this with a Citrix ADC, which can also provide performance benefits across mobile networks. When performance is optimized, it provides the user with an experience that is the same or even better than what employees can get in the office, not to mention Citrix Gateway provides secure access to apps, desktops, and data from anywhere. And all of this is independent of where the apps and other services reside, whether in the cloud, on premises, or a combination of both.

Want to learn more about these offerings? Reach out to us or contact one of our outstanding Citrix Service Providers, who are developing great solutions around Citrix technologies in their markets.