SURVEY: Nine in 10 Employees are Frustrated by their Workplace Technology
June 09 2022 - 8:00AM
Freshworks Inc., (NASDAQ: FRSH), a software company empowering the
people who power business, today unveiled new research*, revealing
that businesses globally face a potential workplace crisis due to
inadequate technology, damaging employee productivity, mental
health and the ability to retain talent. Despite the global shift
to hybrid work igniting the biggest surge in technology investment
in history, an overwhelming 91% of employees report being
frustrated due to inadequate workplace technology.
Tech Not Keeping Pace With Employee
Expectations
During the pandemic, businesses spent the equivalent of $15
billion USD extra a week on technology to enable remote working,
according to KPMG. Despite the consequent rapid changes to the way
we work, Freshworks found that employees reported widespread
failures from the workplace technology they use every day. Top
complaints included slow speeds (51%), extended response times from
IT teams (34%), lack of collaboration between departments (30%),
missing important features/capabilities (28%) and lack of
automation (25%).
When trying to get employees to embrace new technology and
tools, leaders say their biggest challenge is hard to use
applications with a high learning curve (68%). More than two thirds
(69%) of leaders feel that employees are not given sufficient time
to learn to use new software and that the benefits are often not
adequately explained to employees (67%).
Good Tech Gives Strategic Advantage in the War for
Talent
As a fierce war for talent rages, and half (44%) of employees
globally are still considering changing jobs, easy to use
technology is an essential contributor to employee satisfaction. In
fact, while pay and benefits top the reasons to move jobs, lack of
flexible working opportunities and innovative tech are in the top
five. This is recognised by business leaders globally, 71% of whom
acknowledge that employees will consider looking for a new employer
if their current job does not provide access to the tools,
technology or information they need to do their jobs well.
Broader Business Impact of Inadequate Tech
The employee experience isn’t the only thing impacted by
insufficient workplace technology, it’s also harming the wider
business. Freshworks’ survey reveals that dated tech is restricting
business productivity, as frustrated employees grapple with daily
IT challenges. More than half (57%) of unsatisfied employees say
their current software makes them less productive. Nearly half
(44%) of employees surveyed say the time spent dealing with
technology issues has increased since the beginning of the
pandemic.
More worryingly, employee stress levels are soaring due to
inadequate workplace technology; nearly half (49%) of employees
surveyed report that inadequate workplace technology causes them to
feel stressed and 48% claim it has negatively impacted their mental
health. Business leaders agree, with 38% reporting that their
failure to deliver adequate workplace technology to their
stakeholders causes them to feel stressed. And in an extreme
indicator, almost half of business leaders (48%) say stress from
hybrid working makes them want to leave the tech industry.
“Software used in the workplace is simply not keeping pace with
rising employee expectations,” said Stacey Epstein,
Chief Marketing Officer at Freshworks. “Our report reveals
that sticking with bloated, legacy platforms is materially hurting
productivity and the employee experience. This technological
inertia couldn’t come at a worse time, as organizations all over
the world are battling to keep a handle on both talent shortages
and economic uncertainty, creating threats on two fronts.”
Download Part 1 of the “State of Workplace Technology” series
titled, “Workplace Tech: The new battleground for the war on
talent, productivity & reputation.” Part 2, “Bloatware: The
difference between love & hate for workplace tech,” will be
available in July.
MethodologyCensuswide, on behalf of Freshworks,
surveyed 6698 employees and 2000 Line of Business (LOB) leaders
aged 18+ in businesses with 100-500 employees across Europe, USA,
Latin America, APAC and MEA. Statistics were collected in April
2022.
About FreshworksFreshworks Inc. (NASDAQ: FRSH)
makes business software people love to use. Purpose-built for IT,
customer support, sales and marketing teams, our products empower
the people who power business. Freshworks is fast to onboard,
priced affordably, built to delight, yet powerful enough to deliver
critical business outcomes. Headquartered in San Mateo, California,
Freshworks operates around the world to serve more than 56,000
customers including Bridgestone, Chargebee, DeliveryHero, ITV,
Klarna, Multichoice, OfficeMax, TaylorMade and Vice Media. For the
freshest company news visit www.freshworks.com and follow us on
Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
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Contact:PR@freshworks.com
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