European investment in future of work to exceed $145 billion in 2021

The new Worldwide Future of Work Spending Guide published by International Data Corporation (IDC) says European total investment in Future of Work (FoW) transformation will surpass $145 billion in 2021.

According to the guide, which is being 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 expenditures, respectively.

IDC notes that the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated adoption of new working models, including work-from-home arrangements that utilize 3rd Platform technologies. These models are compelling European organizations to boost investments in the three pillars of employee experience and workspace transformation — space, culture, and augmentation.
IDC’s Future of Work Framework

The new Worldwide Future of Work Spending Guide assesses and sizes the end-user investment opportunity related to these pillars. The guide features 20+ FoW use cases supported by technologies across 19 industries in Western Europe and Central and Eastern Europe.

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 organizations in the sector.”
CT Bureau