With the COVID-19 pandemic changing how businesses are conducted globally and the increased use of technology becoming a norm, a Boston Consulting Group (BCG)-Zoom survey report brings this aspect of change in the way businesses are conducted starkly. According to it, over a third of employees of businesses surveyed (a high 47% for India) will work remotely while nearly half of the employees (52% in India) expect to use video conferencing even after the pandemic.

Besides, the survey shows that a majority of the businesses (87% in India) strongly agree with the statement that their company is considering a flexible remote working model because of successful remote collaboration through successful video conferencing solutions.

Also, 70% of businesses surveyed agreed that video conferencing tools will continue to be essential for business operations beyond the pandemic.

No industry was immune from the economic impact of the pandemic, but some were able to make dramatic shifts in behaviour to adjust. For this survey, BCG took a look at how the healthcare, education, technology, and professional services sectors embraced remote collaboration to enable continuity during the pandemic and how the trends may continue in the future.

In the healthcare segment, 67% of businesses surveyed agree with the statement: "My company is considering a flexible remote working model because of successful remote collaboration through video conferencing solutions."

In education, the survey brought out that there is more than 3.5 times increase in the use of video conferencing solutions during the pandemic at businesses. In the technology segment, this is higher with 84% of businesses surveyed agreeing that "Video conferencing solutions will continue to be essential for business operations beyond the pandemic."

In professional services, there was a 2.7x increase in remote work during the pandemic at businesses surveyed.

The survey was undertaken with the idea to evaluate the economic impact of remote work and video communications solutions during the pandemic. In this regard, Zoom commissioned the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to conduct a survey and economic analysis, focusing on what industries were able to pivot their business processes using video conferencing, resulting in business continuity and even growth during a time of significant economic turmoil.

BCG's COVID-19 employee sentiment survey from 2020 showed that 70% of managers surveyed are more open to flexible remote working models than they were before the pandemic.

Hybrid working models are here to stay as businesses surveyed expect over a third of employees to work remotely beyond the pandemic.