Total European investment in future of work (FoW) transformation will surpass $145-billion in 2021.
According to the Worldwide Future of Work Spending Guide published by International Data Corporation (IDC), published for the first time in June 2021, one-third of these expenditures – $46-billion worth – will be in the hardware category, which includes robots and drones, infrastructure as a service, and IoT devices. Software and IT services will be responsible for $37-billion and $27-billion worth of expenditure, respectively.
IDC notes that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated adoption of new working models, including work-from-home arrangements that utilise 3rd Platform technologies. These models are compelling European organisations to boost investments in the three pillars of employee experience and workspace transformation — space, culture, and augmentation.
IDC expects the cultural pillar to have the strongest investment growth in Europe in 2021, rising more than 17% year on year, followed by the augmentation and space pillars. Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe are forecast to see double-digit increases in FoW investment in the coming years.
IDC predicts the adaptive skill development use case to post 37% year-on-year growth in Europe in 2021. This use case is supported by learning management systems, AI, analytics, and cognitive solutions.
“The finance sector will be the fastest-growing spender on FoW technologies, investing in double digits in 2021 and the coming years,” says Soheyla Mirshahi, senior research analyst with IDC Customer Insight & Analysis. “Intelligent process automation, augmented and virtual reality, secure enablement, and content and collaboration technologies are expected to be among the top areas of investment by the organisations in the sector.”