Taipei, Taiwan—August 30, 2017 — CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW) today released their “Reality of the Remote Worker Report,” which surveyed 1,154 US working adults, finding that remote workers tend to have their presence go by unnoticed. 43 percent of office workers think it’s harder for remote workers to be seen in the workplace than those non-remote. The report, conducted online with YouGov, gives valuable insight into the perceptions of remote workers and how their disconnect from company culture has become a cumbersome pain point in their careers. Its release coincides with the launch of CyberLink’s new “U” unified communication apps, a unique set of tools that bring the spontaneity and conviviality of social media to the workplace, transforming collaboration and team building in today’s organic business world.

Remote workers understand productivity, but according to the report, office workers think it’s twice as difficult for remote workers to build relationships with the boss, make work friends, collaborate with their team and navigate the workplace culture than in-office workers.

CyberLink’s findings also revealed the following about the disadvantages of remote workers’ distance from the office and colleagues:

• Nearly 1 in 6 (15%) think remote workers are less valued by a company
• More than 1 in 3 (38%) think remote workers don’t get to experience office culture
• 1 in 5 (20%) think remote workers get promoted less often than non-remote workers
• 1 in 12 (8%) think remote workers are less trustworthy

For many people, working from home sounds like an ideal way to balance work and their personal lives, but most office workers expressed potential frustrations when asked about their concerns about working remote.

Almost half (42%) said they wouldn’t be able to build relationships with their coworkers, and one-third (36%) said they would feel lonely or isolated from their team. Another third (34%) of workers said they would be missing out on the office culture if they worked from home, demonstrating that simply being present in the office alongside coworkers appears to be a large factor of a positive work experience. Great for office workers, but paints a picture of hesitation and trepidation for those faced with remote working.

“Even though communication has largely shifted to digital mediums, face time is still a highly-valued part of business,” said Dr. Jau Huang, CEO of CyberLink. “Remote workers don’t have a physical presence in the office, so their colleagues may be under the impression that they bring less to the table or aren’t a member of the team, even though that’s often not true. Our newly launched U apps aim at solving this important issue that has been largely left unaddressed by existing technologies until now.”

Creating a Remote Workplace Culture

With how quickly the business world is shifting to remote work, it’s not likely that the trend will move in reverse. Simplifying communication and aspects of collaboration among workers is a necessary part of making it work successfully, especially when one-third (31%) have been late or missed a meeting because of tech failure, or experienced the following technical difficulties:

• 2 in 5 (42%)have misinterpreted the tone of written communication (email, IM, etc.)
• 40% say an important call has been dropped
• Nearly a quarter (22%)have been late to or missed a meeting because it was too complicated to join
• More than quarter (28%)have used the wrong version of a document
• About 1 in 4 (23%)say an important video meeting has dropped
• 1 in 5 (21%) have mistakenly replied all to an email

These technology complications can make effective collaboration considerably more difficult, pushing office workers toward quick and straightforward modes of communication. In fact, more than one-third prefer to ask quick work-related questions over text or instant message and, shockingly, 1 in 13 (8%) would even prefer to be fired over text or instant message instead of having the conversation in-person!

“With remote workers representing nearly half of the workforce in 2017, it’s time for the perceptions of their value and role in business to shift. The gap between in-office and remote workers can be bridged with easy-to-use technology that streamlines communication with a laser focus on collaboration.” said Dr. Huang. “CyberLink’s new user-focused unified communication apps, U Webinar, U Meeting and U Messenger, make it simple for every team member to feel like a valued member of the team – wherever they are.”

Read the full survey result on CyberLink U Blog

About CyberLink
CyberLink (5203.TW) is a world leader in multimedia software design. Since 1996, CyberLink has transformed how people enjoy and create media on PCs, mobile devices and in the Cloud. The company’s award-winning products are sold to all major PC manufacturers as well as millions of customers worldwide. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, CyberLink also runs regional operations through offices in the US, Japan, Europe and Asia-Pacific territories. Further information about CyberLink can be found at cyberlink.com.

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