Philippines businesses not quite ready to work from home

Only 60% of Philippine businesses believe they were ready for the work from home as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is the lowest across the APAC markets sampled in an IDC survey commissioned by ASUS

The survey found that although 82% of employers stated they believed they already offered a work-from-home (WFH) policy; only two-thirds or 66% of employees agreed that such a policy was in existence; and only 59% of business owners are actively supporting WFH.

The IDC Asia/Pacific Laptops and Workspace Trends Survey 2020 was conducted last year in 10 countries across Asia Pacific, including Philippines. The survey sought to discover the challenges of remote working and the impact on SMEs’ provisioning of laptops and other work devices and involved 2,018 respondents across APAC, split equally between employers (IT decision makers) and employees who use laptops for work.

At the APAC level, the survey reveals that businesses are not attuned to the “work-anywhere” trend brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. On average, only 28% of business owners in Asia Pacific expect employees to continue working remotely post COVID-19, with almost 40% anticipating a return to office.

This short-term focus highlights the challenges that remote working entails – particularly around security, operational, collaboration/communication, and productivity issues.