CFOs plan to spend more on virtual business tools, automation, says Deloitte

May 08, 2020

Working from home: The future of business is remote

Most every organization has been thrust into the future of work faster than prognosticators dared imagine. What will determine failure or success in this brave new world of work?

Sixty percent of chief financial officers are looking to increase spending on technology for virtual work and automated processes in the next 12 months, according to a Deloitte survey.

The findings, based on a poll of 166 CFOs, ties into a spate of executives saying that work may stay remote since companies can cut real estate costs and maintain productivity. PwC’s CFO surveys have found executives are increasingly eyeing remote work as a permanent fixture.

Indeed, tools such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Google Meet (compare) have taken off as more work has gone remote. Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet and a bevy of competitors have all launched promotions to land customers.

Deloitte’s survey still highlighted how enterprises remain in flux. Nearly 60% of CFOs say they don’t expect their operations to return to “near-normal” levels in 2020.

However, those answers varied by industry. For instance, the retail and wholesale sector was pessimistic. In retail/wholesale, 47% of CFOs said operations won’t return to near normal until the second quarter of 2021 or later. And 42% of CFOs in manufacturer didn’t expect operations to normalize until the second quarter of 2021 or later.

In addition, two-thirds of CFOs said they expect their workforce to be within 10% of its current size a year from now.