Will easing of lockdown see the demise of video meetings?

As the UK begins its transition out of lockdown, with pubs, gyms, hairdressers and non-essential shops now open for business, the coming months will see an increase in the number of white-collar professionals returning back to their places of work. However, just 24% of employees are looking forward to returning to their workplace, reveals a new survey from Venson Automotive Solutions.

Despite the reluctance by the majority, the Venson survey of 200 employees (46% of which rely on public transport for getting to and from work and work related meetings, with 54% reliant upon driving) confirmed that 64% of the total respondents value collaborating face-to-face, opposed to video calls.

Unsurprisingly, public transport commuters (38%) demonstrate a greater keenness to continue with video meetings rather than face-to-face meetings than their driving colleagues (28%). One in four (26%) of public transport users say they will do “their utmost” to avoid physical meetings and when travelling to a meeting is “a must”, 23% said they would call upon friends, family and colleagues to get a lift, rather than take public transport.

Danielle Tilley, Business Development Director of Venson comments, “Whether formal or informal, meetings are an essential part of supporting a business, and while we have adapted to different ways of working in the pandemic to ensure we can achieve business goals, our survey indicates employees have a positive attitude to making physical contact with work colleagues, clients and business acquaintances.

“The reality is, for the foreseeable future, we will be faced with having to embrace a hybrid way of working until Covid is truly under control. Businesses will be busy ensuring flexible ways of working are in place for their employees, balancing working from home with being in the office and on the open road. But it’s looking highly likely that video meetings will remain part of our day-to-day business practices as we move forward.”