About26% of survey respondents reported that COVID-19 has prompted themto accelerate investment in technologies that support automationefforts. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Companies across the board are feeling the pressure fromCOVID-19, leaving some scrambling to stay afloat amid the currentmarket conditions, and prompting many to bolster and rely ontechnology to do so, at least one survey suggests.

In their recent report, "The Impact of COVID-19 on the Future of Work,"WorldatWork and Greenwich.HR surveyed 523 organizations acrossmultiple industries, ranging in size from fewer than 100 employeesto more than 40,000. The companies sought to ascertain whetherorganizations are estimating how long they can survive in theircurrent state before making drastic cuts to their operations orclosing altogether; and, if so, when their organization will reachthis critical "point of survival."

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The survey, conducted between April 29 and May 5, found that 34%of respondents have established such timelines of survival. Amongthose that have, 20% said they had already reached that point ofsurvival at the time the survey was taken, while 27% said they wereprojected to reach that point by July. Another 32% expect to reachthat point sometime in 2021.

The survey also analyzed whether investments in technology havebeen accelerated due to COVID-19 and what the key driver is to doso. Among the survey respondents, 37% reported that COVID-19 hadprompted them to accelerate their technology investment, while 17%indicated a deceleration in tech investments. The remaining 47% areleaving their investment stable, possibly indicating it may be tooearly to tell the impact, the report noted.

More specifically, about 26% of survey respondents reported thatCOVID-19 has prompted them to accelerate investment in technologiesthat support automation efforts, while 61% said it has not. Butamong those who have, service enhancement was the top driver behindautomation efforts, with 84% reporting it as extremely or veryinfluential. Production capacity and quality enhancement followed,with 73% and 72%, respectively, reporting these factors asextremely or very influential. Time savings, labor reliability andfinancial savings trailed behind.

Further, with the continued rise of virtual meetings, 62% oforganizations using Zoom Meetings reported tightening securityprotocols as a result of recent security concerns by issuinginstructions to associates on how to better protect meeting linksand access.

"Many aspects of companies' cultures are being rapidlychallenged and revised," Cary Sparrow, Greenwich.HR CEO, said in apress release. "Norms about remote work are changing, and we expectmany companies to be permanently adopting much more flexibleapproaches to working from home. Companies are experiencingfirst-hand how this can open the doors to many positive benefits toboth employees and employers. But these changing expectations cancut both ways.

"In the past, offering flexible work at home policies was oftenseen as a positive differentiator to a company's employment brand,"Sparrow continued. "Going forward, not having such policies willlikely be a negative differentiator for many more types ofjobs."

Sarah Tincher, based in Austin, is themanaging editor of BenefitsPRO sister brands, The National LawJournal and Corporate Counsel.