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News Poll: Security pros sound off on business and travel plans for 2022

News Poll: Security pros sound off on business and travel plans for 2022 More than half of respondents ready to attend more in-person events this year

News Poll: Security pros sound off on business and travel plans for 2022

YARMOUTH, Maine—It was yet another challenging year on a national and global scale as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact businesses through the U.S. and around the world, including those in the security industry. As the pandemic enters year three, this month’s news poll gauged security professionals’ outlook in regard to the office, travel and business focus in 2022.

One thing we can all agree on is the pandemic has changed – for good or bad – the office dynamic and the way companies look at doing business.  When asked, “Does your company plan to return to the office full-time or continue to offer remote and hybrid options?” nearly half of respondents (46 percent) said they are offering a hybrid option, with another 23 percent saying their company is continuing to allow employees to work remotely. The remaining 31 percent said they plan for their company to “return to the office full-time” in 2022.

Looking at travel, there is optimism, as 54 percent said they will be attending more in-person trade shows in 2022, with another 24 saying undecided and only 22 percent saying no.

Not surprisingly, “finding and hiring more qualified workers” is the main business focus for 38 percent of respondents, with supply chain management (32 percent) and leveraging new or emerging technologies (30 percent) rounding out the top three.

“Both supply chain and difficulty in hiring are expected to continue into 2022,” said one respondent. “Resources will be dedicated to using efficient systems to overcome personnel challenges – dispatching, electronic documents, virtual assistance for customers.”

In Security Systems News’ last News Poll on supply chain issues, 91 percent of readers said their business has been impacted by supply chain issues, with 69 percent saying their company was impacted “greatly” and another 21 percent saying “somewhat.” Another 85 percent said they have had to pivot their operations due to supply chain issues, showing the kind of ripple effect the pandemic is causing globally.

“As a small dealer it is disappointing that the large manufacturers haven’t been able to rebuild their production and put more inventory into the system,” said one reader. “This has kept them behind the demand curve from the beginning of the pandemic. I understand why product managers missed their initial forecasts, but given their financial resources, they should have been able to put more slack in the supply chain. It will take a long time to get things back in balance.”

Another respondent agreed, noting, “Manufacturers need to do a better job of communicating as we are looking at alternatives because we get very little response from them. We would like to know a little more besides a product is on back order.”

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