Employees of small businesses might need less employer support while working remotely: Report

People who work in small organisations are likely to need less employer support than employees working in medium or large businesses while working remotely, according to a survey commissioned by Kaspersky.

The survey, conducted by independent research firm Censuswide and commissioned by Kaspersky, said, “The largest gap in support expectations is seen in social aid and additional benefits, such as covering internet or phone bills.”

41 per cent of respondents from small companies said that they would like more support with this, in comparison to 47 per cent among those working in medium-sized businesses. In terms of technology support such as providing the right equipment and IT tools, 35 per cent of small company employees require more support as compared to 41 per cent of employees working in larger organisations.

“This may be due to the fact that it is more common for people in small organisations to arrange their own working environment, use personal devices for work and take care of access to work services,” the report said.

However, emotional or psychological support is an exception.

“Emotional or psychological support is needed to almost the same extent for all businesses: 23 per cent across small organisations and 25 per cent across bigger ones,” as per the report.

“The impact of Covid-19 has not only affected people’s work and daily lives but has also caused anxiety for their own health and that of their loved ones, as well as overall optimism for the future. So, mental health support may be significant for any employee,” it said.

“People who have experience working in small businesses may feel more self-sufficient in the new working reality and this has helped their organisation to concentrate all of their resources on survival,” said Ivan Salikhov, Product Manager, SMB Products at Kaspersky.

“However, to maintain employee productivity and morale, it is still important to make sure that staff have all that they need for work. When it comes to their technology set up, employees need help to use IT securely even if working on personal laptops and managing access to all web services alone,” Salikhov added.

The survey received responses from 8,076 employees of small-to-medium businesses (10 – 250 employees) in Brazil, Belgium, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Turkey, UAE, the UK, and the USA in October 2020.

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