Business View Civil and Municipal | April 2021

10 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL ARIL 2021 return to pre-COVID levels. Pre-COVID, 44% of respondents said that more than 75% of their job involves interacting with coworkers and customers in person. Now, it’s dropped to 29% and respondents expect it to go to 36% in a year. 4. Productivity levels remain mostly consistent: According to respondents, the amount of work they are able to accomplish has mostly stayed the same, with three in five reporting that their productivity levels have remained consistent during the past few months, while only one in four businesses have experienced a decrease in productivity. 5. Businesses are using a variety of communication modes to work productively from anywhere: Businesses conveyed that they are using phone calls, texts, team messaging, and video meetings more frequently, with younger employees (age 18-39) preferring team messaging and video and older employees (age 55+) preferring email and phone communication. One third of respondents have a more positive view of video meetings vs. six months ago. RingCentral has published a full overview of the report online , along with a blog that provides a detailed analysis of the study, and dives into the actions that employees and business owners are taking in light of these findings. www.ringcentral. com Methodology • RingCentral and Bredin Inc. conducted an online survey among US companies with 1 to 100 employees. • A total of 1,000 individuals completed the survey. • Research was conducted between October 8–19, 2020. • Characteristics of survey respondents: • The majority of respondents hold a principal position or are individual contributors. • Companies fully open for business represented 61%, companies open on a limited basis represented 34%, and companies closed with plans to reopen represented 5%. • 62% of respondents are aged 56–74, 18% aged 40–55, 10% aged 24–39, 9% aged 75+, and 1% aged 18–23. • The majority of respondents represent companies that are 2–20+ years old. • Industries represented include professional services (32%), retail/ wholesale (27%), personal services/ training (22%), and manufacturing (19%). The way businesses connect and communicate has fundamentally changed