The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way businesses all over the world operate, introducing work-from-home (WFH) or hybrid setups in order to survive. The emergence of the metaverse has forced work environments to evolve once more.
Defined as a shared digital space with digital representations of people, places and objects, the metaverse can be a highly immersive extension of the physical world thanks to a rich user interface. It provides a world of possibilities for businesses to create a viable and interactive workplace.
A 2021 survey commissioned by Lenovo got responses from over 7,500 working adults in the US, the UK, Brazil, Singapore, China and Japan. It revealed that nearly half of employees were willing to work in the metaverse and agree that it could have benefits (e.g., productivity).
Skepticism on the subject lies on whether companies can even pull it off. Two in five respondents do not believe that their employers can or that they do not have the knowledge or expertise to execute this in the future.
Other key findings in the survey are as follow:
- Almost half of employees (44%) are willing to work in the metaverse; 20% are unwilling; 21% say they are neutral; 15% say they are unsure
- Half of working adults (51%) agree that the speed with which an employer adopts new technology indicates how ready they are for new technological realities, such as the metaverse
- In Brazil, Singapore, and China, working adults are split evenly – 53%, 51%, and 54% respectively – in the belief that their employers have the expertise to enable a metaverse workplace
- Working adults in the UK (30%) and Japan (18%) are less optimistic
- While 44% think the metaverse will improve their work productivity, three in five (59%) do not think or are not sure that their employers are currently investing enough in IT to help them maximize their productivity
Complex technology management needs simple and flexible IT solutions. Lenovo offers the ThinkReality platform, which drives the enterprise metaverse with an array of award-winning hardware, software and services.
The As-A-Service market is growing at four times the overall IT services total addressable market. The As-A-Service solution gives mission-critical support and services, allowing businesses to use technology to scale quickly, lower costs, and reap greater efficiencies. Thanks to its flexible and transparent offerings, Lenovo has helped organisations in the education to aerospace sectors optimise the right technology with the potential to transform and future-proof their operations.
Lenovo Solutions and Services Group president Ken Wong remarked: “We are just scratching the surface of the metaverse, not to mention the new economics of Web 3.0. For now, metaverse opens a world of possibilities for businesses, which according to our research, almost half of employees are willing to participate. To grasp it, companies need to identify new ways to make the most of their technologies. And Lenovo’s everything-as-a-service offerings can help organizations unleash their full potential.”
