Young professionals in Switzerland: majority satisfied with digital workplace

Modern, digital and attuned to young employees: In Swiss companies, 18- to 34-year-old professionals in particular seem to be satisfied with their digital workplace. Well over half (55 percent) of these younger employees already find the digital workplace (very) modern in terms of hardware, application programs and access to the digital working environment from outside the company. Almost as many of them (54 percent: "strongly agree" and "agree") observe an open culture that focuses on sharing information and collaboration.

By contrast, only 40 percent of 35- to over 55-year-olds feel this way. Also, only 45 percent of them consider the digital workplace to be (very) modern. These are the findings of a recent YouGov survey commissioned by the full-service intranet agency HIRSCHTEC among 251 professionals in Switzerland who work mainly in offices.

Young professionals feel well supported by digital tools

A similar picture emerges with regard to digital work equipment: While more than half (53 percent: "completely agree" and "agree") of 18- to 34-year-olds already perceive digital work equipment as helpful for internal communication and collaboration, not even half (47 percent) of 35- to over 55-year-olds see it that way.

"The results show that there are definitely differences between the generations when it comes to the digital workplace in Switzerland. Whereas more than half of young employees seem to be completely satisfied with the digital workplace and the modern corporate culture practiced in the company, older employees see a bit more catching up to do here," says Lutz Hirsch, managing partner of HIRSCHTEC. "For Swiss companies, it will therefore be increasingly important to pick up especially the older employees, who often also hold management positions."

Generation-independent: There is a need to catch up when it comes to the spatial equipment of office space

Swiss companies are thus faced with the challenge of increasingly addressing the needs of more experienced professionals, training them in the use of digital tools and anchoring the cultural change in their minds. In this way, they can ensure that they make meaningful use of the new interactive tools in the digital workplace for their management and leadership tasks and drive the transformation forward as digital leaders.

However, younger and older employees do not differ in one respect: Only 51 percent of them agree (completely) that the spatial configuration of their office space promotes exchange and communication. Consequently, holistically conceived "digital workplace" concepts do not yet seem to be fully established in many Swiss companies.

DACH region: Digital work equipment has highest priority in Switzerland

If we also compare the survey results for Germany, Austria and Switzerland, it is striking that Swiss professionals (77 percent: "yes, completely" and "yes, rather") are by far the most likely to feel that digital work equipment is highly relevant in their company (Germany: 69 percent, Austria: 68 percent). Among 18- to 34-year-old employees in Switzerland, as many as 80 percent believe that digital hardware and software are highly relevant.

"This also coincides with our observations. Swiss companies in particular have a great awareness of the positive effect of modern digital work equipment on their own employer attractiveness. An awareness that has already arrived in many, but by no means all, German and Austrian companies," says Lutz Hirsch.

Source: https://hirschtec.eu/