The survey, conducted in February-March 2021, also found that 5% of local outsourcing companies plan to have their employees work exclusively from the office once the pandemic is over.
“The experience of the past months has shown that both remote working and working from the office exclusively have their downsides and don’t meet the companies’ long-term needs. New hires are harder to train when working remotely and medium and long term professional development is impacted negatively when members of a team don’t interact in person for long periods of time,” said Catalin Iorgulescu, ABSL board representative.
The survey found that over 90% of companies that responded currently work remotely. For 38% of companies, only tech support staff works from the office, while other employees only go the office under special circumstances related to meetings.
Around 40% of the companies in the outsourcing industry plan a gradual return to the office under a hybrid working system starting July-August 2021, to reach 61% by the end of the year or starting 2022. Around 39% of respondents said they didn’t know when they would return to the office.
While 45% of companies in the industry intend to work from the office 8–10 days a month, 10% plan to work from the office 12 days a month and 22% plan to work from the office less than 7 days a month or occasionally.
In terms of office space, 61% of companies will keep their existing offices, while 39% plan to downsize. Around 56% of companies plan to remodel their office spaces.
The survey showed 77% of companies in the industry implemented wage raises this year, while 13% kept wages at the same level as in 2020.
The outsourcing industry in Romania generated revenues of EUR4.5 billion in 2020 and is seen growing in the medium and long run. The business services industry contributes 2-2.5% to the country’s gross domestic product, close to industries such as wholesale, electricity, or oil and gas.
The ABSL survey included 61 companies with approximately 39,000 employees between them.