According to new survey results from Bitkom, almost 50 percent of German companies surveyed see themselves as pioneers in the digitization of their business and administrative processes, while almost 50 percent classify themselves as laggards. The survey also found that the push for digitization that started with the coronavirus pandemic will not be reversed. The survey, commissioned by Bitkom, questioned 505 companies with 20 or more employees in Germany. 95 percent of these companies use at least one digital office solution.
Whether a company sees itself as a digitization pioneer or a latecomer is often related to the size of the company. Bitkom makes clear that the larger companies tend to rank among the pioneers at 31 percent. Only 6 percent of small companies consider themselves pioneers. Investments in digitization are being made almost universally. Only 2 percent of companies have not yet invested and do not plan to do so in the future.
The survey found that competitive aspects such as saving resources are decisive drivers for digitization in companies. German companies across all size classes agree on the advantages of digitization. 92 percent of the companies state that they are digitizing their processes, for example, to use less paper, 89 percent to become more sustainable in general, and 58 percent to be able to do without business trips.
With the corona pandemic, some digital tools for internal and external communication have become more popular, according to Bitkom. Among other things, smartphones, messenger services, collaboration tools, and social media are growing in use. At 71 percent, the use of video conferencing remained just below the previous year’s level. At the same time, the use of letter post has continued to decline.
The shortage of skilled workers is seen as one of the biggest hurdles to digitizing work processes. According to the survey, 72 percent of companies find too few qualified personnel for digitization. To counter this problem, 73 percent invest specifically in the training and further education of their employees for the digital world of work.
Rohleder also sees the digitization of work as an opportunity to recruit employees. Companies seem to think so too. 80 percent of them digitize processes in order to be attractive as an employer for applicants and 74 percent specifically to counteract the shortage of skilled workers.
