On September 1 (local time), Zoom announced the results of its nationwide "Out of Office Index" survey, commissioned to Morning Consult, which polled 1,000 U.S. knowledge workers and 500 IT decision-makers. The survey revealed that 61% feel dread about the work awaiting them after a vacation, and 48% experience anxiety even before their vacation begins. Alongside this, Zoom proposed the use of its AI-powered feature "ZoomMate" to assist with post-vacation catch-up and announced webinars to be held on September 24 and 25.
The accumulation of emails before and after vacation, the need to reschedule meetings, and missed information due to lack of sharing are cited as factors that make employees hesitant to take time off. The survey found that 57% of respondents left some of their available paid time off unused in the past year, and 42% considered not taking a vacation due to work-related stress. To address these workplace challenges, Zoom is launching ZoomMate, designed to organize events, decisions, and next steps from conversation data during an employee's absence, aiming to smooth the return to work after a vacation.
Regarding features, 82% said they want AI to summarize events during their absence, and 80% requested automatic summaries of decisions made while they were away. Furthermore, 79% desired a to-do list for their first day back, and 78% responded that reliable catch-up support would make it easier to fully disconnect from work. ZoomMate is designed to consolidate work context from daily conversations, including meetings, chats, and customer interactions, to support a smooth ramp-up upon returning to work.
The survey also found that 88% of respondents take at least a full day to get back up to speed after a vacation, and 53% require more than three days to fully catch up. Anxiety was particularly high among Gen Z, with 52% feeling anxious before vacation and 52% considering not taking time off. Among managers, 53% felt anxious before vacation, and 70% worked longer hours than usual. Zoom will host ZoomMate webinars on September 24 and 25 titled 'Next-Gen AI "ZoomMate" Arrives in Japan! AI Utilization Techniques to Turn Conversations into 'Completed Work',' which will include demonstrations in a Japanese environment and introduce employee use cases.