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DPP: ‘Nothing to suggest’ remote working was good for media business

DPP publishes report Will Covid-19 Change the Way We Work?

The DPP has released the findings of a research project looking at how the coronavirus pandemic will change the way the media industry works.

For the report, titled Will Covid-19 Change The Way We Work?, the DPP spoke to 100 media companies, of all kinds, as they managed their operations from lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic.

Participants were surveyed on a weekly and monthly basis between late March and the end of June, 2020.

Key findings include:

  • Most companies were pre-adapted to working away from the office, and the smooth transition proved the case for flexible working, which will now endureĀ 
  • But this smoothness concealed considerable mood swings
  • People like flexible working more than homeworking. Craving for social interaction and business engagements is driving the return to the office
  • There is nothing to suggest that remote working was, in itself, good for business
  • The next year looks bleak – with cost cutting, tighter budgets, dramatically less travel, and a reduction in office space
  • Content companies have been hit hard but can now see a way out. Technology companies have fared better but fear more for the future

“The story commonly told is that the media industry moved to remote working quickly and well; and this is true. But no-one has reported what happened next – until now,” said DPP managing director, and author of the report, Mark Harrison. “What we have uncovered is a rollercoaster of anxiety and uncertainty.”

The full report is available for DPP members to download on the DPP website.