Work From Home Hong Kong Survey COVID-19

How coronavirus has shaped the way we work?
The last few months have seen an increased focus on the concept of working from home (“WFH”). Unfortunately, WFH requires companies to have the internal resources to support such arrangements. To further explore the concept of WFH, FastLane has partnered with Wantedly and Votee to survey over 200 Hong Kong individuals to examine how Coronavirus has shaped the way Hong Kong SMEs work and how well Hong Kong employees are adapting to WFH arrangements.

Key Findings
1. WFH is being adopted in greater numbers since the outbreak of Coronavirus
2. 89% of Hong Kong employees surveyed have benefited from WFH
3. There is a general displeasure towards the lack of internal infrastructure among Hong Kong companies
4. Employees have voiced their desire for greater investment in technology
5. A small percentage of Hong Kong employers have adopted new technologies

1. WFH is being adopted in greater numbers since the outbreak of Coronavirus
Only 11% of the Hong Kong employees surveyed have stated that their employers offered WFH arrangements prior to Covid-19 whereas 60% of Hong Kong employees have subsequently been able to WFH as a result of Covid-19. However, as will be discussed later, many Hong Kong employers are unfamiliar with what is necessary to WFH. Regardless, there has been an evident increase in the amount of Hong Kong employees who are now enjoying WFH, implying that Hong Kong companies are becoming more receptive to adopting new work arrangements.

2. 89% of Hong Kong employees surveyed have benefited from WFH
Largely speaking, a majority of employees have stated that they have experienced various benefits from WFH. Over 25% of employees have stated that they most enjoy the newfound flexibility associated with WFH and another 25% said they have saved time on their commutes.

3. There is a general displeasure towards the lack of internal infrastructure among Hong Kong companies
Hong Kong companies are facing logistical challenges in their implementation of WFH as over 75% of employees claim that they have problems accessing their company’s internal infrastructure. For instance, resources such as internal documents or communications tools are considered to be inaccessible or have limited accessibility. The lack of access to these resources inhibit employees ability to fulfill their work related responsibilities.

Employers can consider providing their employees with remote access abilities to fulfill their responsibilities. Applications such as Xero, Google Office Suite and Dropbox are all platforms that allow users access to their firm’s internal databases, accounting records, working documents and so on.

4. Employees have voiced their desire for greater investment in technology
To support the claim that there is a lack of internal infrastructure among Hong Kong companies, employees surveyed have made it evident that they believe that technology is an essential tool in today’s current work climate.

Over 65% of the employees surveyed believe that in order for WFH to be a successful work arrangement in Hong Kong, companies must continue to adopt new technologies that can facilitate employees ability to fulfill their work responsibilities.

5. A small percentage of Hong Kong employers have adopted new technologies
To better facilitate their employees’ ability to WFH, Hong Kong employers of all industries have begun introducing and adopting new technologies in the form of collaboration, communication, HR management and productivity tools.

Among the technologies adopted, communication tools such as Zoom were the most commonly adopted with 32% of employees claiming their firm has recently introduced such technologies. Of all employees surveyed, over 15% claimed no new technologies were adopted.

Conclusion
To ensure that productivity is not lost during WFH, Hong Kong employers must take the initiative to adopt technology. As mentioned in Coronavirus Navigation – How Online Tools Support Home Office, there are a multitude of online tools designed to address the problems associated with WFH. Project management, internal communication, and accessing internal resources can all be addressed with the right medium.

To assist our clients, FastLane and Wantedly have been stepping up our efforts to provide professional insights to help SMEs weather these turbulent times. For instance, Wantedly will soon release their research on Hong Kong’s 2020 employment trends! Please stay tuned as we continue to provide further insights