Release of 25.05.2021

A1 Telekom Austria Group Presenting “A1 New Work Study“. How HR Managers in Austria Assess the (Post)Pandemic Office Life“

New Work Press Briefing

Martin Mayr, Integral Austria (left), Fred Mahringer, A1 Austria (right)

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  • 51% of the companies surveyed use home offices
  • Increase in job satisfaction of employees (39%)
  • 43% of companies are unable to offer home offices to all employees due to the nature of their industry and activities
  • Digitalization boost through changes of steering processes (45%)
  • 71% see optimization opportunities for home office in terms of technical framework conditions
  • 50% for clear guidelines and more trust
  • At A1 Austria, the office becomes a social hub

More than a year of the pandemic has shown that there are countless areas of business life, that have undergone lasting change. As part of a study conducted by Integral Austria, A1 asked HR managers in more than 350 companies for their assessment of (post)pandemic office life.

"March 13, 2020 was D-Day not only for us, but for the majority of companies in Austria. Within one week, we moved more than 4,000 employees to the home office. This step was marked by numerous questions: How will working from home affect productivity, the ability to cope with stress, and also the health of our employees? And so, of course, we also wanted to know how other companies have fared over the past 14 months and what contribution we, as the leading communications provider in Austria, can make to making other companies even fitter for digitalization," says Fred Mahringer, Director Human Resources A1, summarizing the objectives of the study.

51% of the companies surveyed use home offices
Every 2nd company uses home office, but the potential is far from exhausted and will drop to 43% after Corona. Only 4 out of 10 companies plan to use home office even after Corona. Before Corona, 31% of companies had the option of home office, while 78% currently do.

Effects of home office on satisfaction and productivity
From the perspective of HR managers, job satisfaction among employees in the home office increases (39%), and only a minority (13%) observe a decline. However, the picture is ambivalent with regard to productivity: a quarter of respondents report an improvement (23%) and a quarter a deterioration (27%).

43% of companies are unable to offer home offices to all employees due to the nature of their industry and activities
Due to the different sectors and industries - e.g. production, construction, security, transportation, warehousing, gastronomy - but also the activities - customer contact, apprentice training, internships - and individual possibilities such as unsuitable equipment or spatial conditions, 43% of the companies cannot offer home office to all employees.

Advantages and challenges for employees
The challenge of multiple workloads during the Corona pandemic is offset by more flexible time management or time savings.

Thus, 80% of the respondents see a multiple burden due to self-organization, 76% the loss of social contacts and 63% lack of information, but also the burden due to mixing private and professional matters as the greatest challenges.

The advantages for employees are primarily seen in the concrete time savings (67%) and the possibility of self-organization (80%).

Initiation of internal company digitalization processes
In almost every second company (45%), Corona has led to changes in internal management processes and thus to a digitalization boost. This applies, for example, to the introduction of electronic signatures, internal forms management or new or improved e-learning tools.

Optimization potential for home office in terms of technical framework conditions
71% see potential for optimization, almost all of them in the area of Internet quality. There is also a need for improvement in the range of technical platforms for collaboration (23%) and resource planning tools (15%). A quarter sees a need for consulting and training services.

Communication solutions, online access to business data and security software, among others, work very well (more than 85% agreement in each case). More problems, on the other hand, are found with Internet bandwidth (60% agreement) and customer contacts (71% agreement) in connection with home office.

A quarter of the companies already uses special home office tools (e.g., digital time recording, web applications) to manage resources, but this tends to be the case for the larger companies.

Financing of home office equipment and reimbursement of costs
Hardware is mostly paid for by the company, office furniture (e.g. desks, chairs) and Internet connection partly by employees. Most companies provide notebooks (85%) or cell phones (76%), Internet connections are paid for entirely by the company in only 14% of cases. Reimbursement of costs is currently only provided by 12%.

Further effects
6 out of 10 companies have taken special measures, such as company agreements (34%) or further trainings for managers (29%).

Increased home office activities also have an impact on the real estate market: 20% see savings potential for office space (possibly coworking space for startups); on average, a reduction in office space costs of around 28% is expected.

Investment in clear guidelines and more trust/support are the top recommendations
The development of clear guidelines and guidance are important recommendations for every 2nd HR manager (48%). 40% advise more trust in employees' abilities, but at the same time flexibility and support for self-organization.

At A1, the office becomes a social hub
"For us, the question is no longer when do I come to the office, but why do I come to the office," says Mahringer, explaining the New Work situation at A1.

Meetings, creative collaboration and social interaction are important. Managers have been and are being trained with regard to the new way of working and provide support for self-organization, as well as confidence and flexibility in the new way of working.

New communication formats, such as bi-weekly board updates, regular infomails from HR or Internal Communications keep employees up to date. Daily stand-ups complete the employee communication, which has taken on a new significance.

The framework conditions for employees were agreed in a new company agreement based on the legal home office regulations. In addition, new programs and options regarding working hours, breaks and availability create the necessary legal certainty.

The expansion of e-learning tools and the corresponding technical infrastructure (all employees have a company cell phone, company laptop and, as of July, 40 Mbit of free Internet) support a change in everyday office life at A1 that can no longer be stopped.

"Summarizing, it can be said that at A1 the office has evolved into a social hub and we have taken a huge developmental step towards an agile organization with more personal responsibility for the team and thus a changed leadership culture. We want to continue this transformation while retaining those measures that we tried out during the pandemic period and which worked very well. But of course we will continue to have enough space and opportunities for face-to-face meetings," Mahringer concludes.

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New Work Press Briefing
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Contact

(1)Michael Höfler (en)
Dr. Michael Höfler
A1 Group Spokesperson
+43 664 66 30362
michael.hoefler@a1.group