Digital makes you happier

The Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) e. V. (German Association for the Digital Economy) conducted a representative survey of the population as well as a survey of its own member companies to examine how the working world has changed as a result of the corona pandemic. In the process, different perceptions of employees and managers as well as of companies in the digital economy and traditional companies were compared.

"The study clearly shows that the perceptions of employees and managers differ", sums up BVDW-
Vice President Anna Kaiser.

A comparison of the two surveys reveals a difference in the choice of preferred workplace between digital and "traditional" business: While 25 percent of employees in the population-representative survey would like to return to the presence model, only three percent of employees at BVDW member companies would.

The employees surveyed agree that they predominantly prefer a flexible model: 53 percent of respondents to the population-representative survey and 70 percent of respondents from BVDW member companies. In the flexible model, employees decide for themselves where they work and for how long: anything is possible, from 100 percent home office to 100 percent presence time in the office.

This difference is also reflected in the current plans of executives: Around 40 percent of respondents to the population-representative survey say they will return to a presence model after the pandemic, compared to just seven percent of executives surveyed at BVDW member companies. Executives at BVDW member companies predominantly plan to set up a hybrid model (70 percent).

Flexible working has already become part of everyday life in the digital industry, even in places where it was not common before the pandemic. More than 70 percent of employees at BVDW member companies are now more satisfied with their work situation than before the pandemic. "Flexible working time models therefore have enormous potential to increase employee satisfaction"Anna Kaiser, Vice President of the BVDW, explains.

At the same time, remote working also raises the question of constant availability. 88 percent of employees at BVDW member companies think a regulation makes sense. By contrast, only half (51 percent) of managers are in favor of it.