Vital signs:
strengthening flexible work culture throughconnection, collaboration and creation

As part of the Marking work human programme, Economist Impact, supportedby Google Workspace, conducted a global survey in April and May 2023 of over
900 executives in 12 countries across Asia, Europe, North America and Latin
America. The survey reveals the current state of flexible work, its main benefits
and challenges, and the promise global executives see in new technologies like AI.

Supported by1

From emergency response to permanent featureThree years after the pandemic ushered flexibility into the workplace, we’ve found that these measures have not only remained
but also exceeded expectations

Flexibility offerings 2021 & 2023
Expectatio n2Reality

2023

50%90%In 2021 ~50% of employees
expected their organisations tocontinue to offer time and/or
location flexibility post-pandemic

Our 2023 study found that over
90% of companies offer at least
time and/or location flexibility tosome and all employees

Navigating flexible work with confidence
Initial concerns that work flexibility could hinder performance have been persistently challenged. At times, executives areeven more optimistic than their employees. Perceptions around wellbeing continue to drive flexible work efforts
and have become a north star for companies leading the way.

Employees see improvements in performance and wellbeing

2021

Employees who felt flexible work positively impacted
E mploye e
pro ductivity

Innovatio n

58%

44%

F inancial

pe rfo rmance

Physical
we llbe ing

Me ntalwe llbe ing

F inancial

we llbe ing

Pro fessio nal
we llbe ing

Not
asked

63%

63%

53%

40%

Executives see improvements in performance and wellbeing

2023

Executives who believe flexible work improved
E mploye e
productivity

Innovation

Financialpe rformance

Physical
we llbe ing

Me ntalwe llbe ing

Financial
we llbe ing

Professional
we llbe ing

82%

79%

82%

77%

77%

77%

78%

Given these positive trends, executives are
more confident in the future of flexible work.

3of executives say their organisations
have a corporate commitment toproviding more work flexibility in thenear future64%

Bridging the culture gap
Despite gains at a business level, companies are still struggling to find the right approach to creating a cohesive culture as
workplace trust, connection and collaboration continue to lag.

57%

56%

of employees felt
disconnected from theirorganisation and co-workers

of workers felt that the lack offace-to-face supervision createda sense of distrust

35%

60%

of executives still see
disconnection among
employees as a top
implementation challenge

2021

2023

of executives agree that trust
between managers and direct
reports has deteriorated since
the adoption of flexible work

2021

38%

31%

of executives see the lack of real-timecollaboration among people working
across different time zones as the top
challenge to implementing flexible workof executives say frictions or inefficiency incollaboration among employees working
across locations and time zones is also a top
five challenge in this category

2023

1
2
3
4
5

4

Is flexible work under threat?
In the face of these challenges, coupled with growing economic
uncertainty, the temptation is to roll back flexible work adoption
and implementation.

77%

of executives said that if the economy declines, theirorganisation will provide less work flexibility to reduce risksThis kind of roll back may be an easy fix, but identifying and addressing the root causes of connection and collaboration
challenges can be a way forward.

Top implementation challenges

1

Lack of real-time collaboration among people
working across different time zones

2
3

Inefficiency or fatigue from too many meetings

45

Disconnection between new
joiners and existing employees

Lack of visibility/information on theoutcomes of flexible work models

Frictions or inefficiency in collaboration among

employees working across locations and time zones

5Technology is being underutilised and sometimes misdirected
Poor and inaccessible technology was cited as one of the top adoption challenges by executives this year:

Top 5 adoption challenges

1

Leadership’s inability toadapt to new working
practices2

Insufficient policies to  
achieve pre-pandemic
levels of productivity

3

Lack of managerial skills
to manage workflows
among flexible/remoteworkers

4

Poor/few technology
tools to support
distributed
collaboration

5

Unequal access to technology tools
among employees from different
regions or functions (eg, knowledge
versus frontline workers)

Some technologies used to address connection and creativity challenges are being overused and others remain unexplored.

64%

50%

of executives say they continue to primarily use meetings tofoster collaborationof executives say that basic tools that facilitate formal and informal
collaboration (like online messaging platforms, tools for real-time
collaboration and project management software) are only rarely/
sometimes used

nappropriate use of technology is also contributing to a decrease in trust. These technologies are often used to substitute for
improvements in management.
I62%42%

say that online tracking tools areassessing employees’ work progress

say they have not instituted mandatory
training for managers to manage hybrid/
remote teams

xecutives see great promise in new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) as part of the solution to ensure access, trust andengagement are strengthened.
E

Executives who anticipate that their organisation will increase investments in

85%

training and upskilling the workforce to incorporate tech change

83%

of organisations are already using AI tools regularly

Executives who believe AI can contribute to increased innovation andcreativity in the flexible workplace by eliminating mundane tasks

86%
Executives who believe that AI can support agile learning and employee
upskilling /reskilling83%
believe AI will incrementally change the future of work

84%