To be fair the research comes from Sinequa which happens to provide what it calls Intelligent Enterprise Search but it has turned up some interesting facts and supports what other analysts such as Gartner have been saying.

Sinequa’s research shows that while working from home is less of a barrier to finding information than it was this time last year, problems finding information remain in general, with 71 per cent  saying it’s harder to find information on work systems than it is to find information on search engines such as Google.

Office employees and knowledge workers have experienced considerable disruption over the last eighteen months as working patterns have shifted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Adjusting to new ways of working took time, with workers needing to find new ways to collaborate and share resources with colleagues. Sinequa’s survey of knowledge workers in 2020 revealed that finding information was a key area that suffered, with most workers (61 per cent) reporting they found it harder to find information at home.

However, over the last year, workers have adapted rapidly to new working patterns and new collaboration styles, with a smaller proportion (39 per cent) now saying it is harder to find information when working remotely.

More than 86 per cent of employees report that their organisation adapted to remote working, however less than half (48 per cent) described it as a quick and easy transition. Nevertheless, finding information remains harder than it should be, according to 46 per cent of employees, and this is negatively impacting their ability to carry out their job.

 On average, 34 minutes a day per employee are lost to searching for information, which amounts to 147 hours and 54 minutes of wasted time for every employee each working year.

Stéphane Kirchacker, VP EMEA at Sinequa said: “Our research shows workers have acclimatised to new models of working over the last year, especially when it comes to finding information when not in the office environment.

Despite this, nearly half of employees still believe it’s harder to find information at work than it should be, and the majority find consumer search tools such as Google easier to use and better at finding information than enterprise counterparts. This is a wakeup call for enterprise search. Office workers expect to have their complex queries answered, and to be able to easily find relevant information within their workplace environment.

Sinequa said: “Enterprise search must evolve at the pace of consumer search to meet the needs of a workforce dealing with growing quantities of data and information. More intelligent enterprise search capabilities are particularly important in the hybrid working environment, as the scattering of employees and resources makes finding information even harder. With better search, the workforce will be more productive, regardless of where people are working.”