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Hybrid Working Gaining Momentum: Focus on These 4 Tech Stocks

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Hybrid working is here to stay, thanks to the rising concerns related to the Omicron variant and new travel restrictions. Organizations have started adopting the hybrid working model as it provides employees with the flexibility to split their time between office and remote working without compromising on productivity or work quality.

A flexible work environment is reducing office administrative and marketing expenses as companies are transforming their businesses digitally. Alphabet’s (GOOGL - Free Report) Google saved $1.4 billion in 2020 due to a reduction in advertising and promotional expenses. Further, GOOGL aims to continue investing in real estate and maintaining the hybrid work environment.

Apart from organizations, employees are also preferring the hybrid work culture as it can maintain productivity from anywhere and ensure a work-life balance.

Per a recent Work Trend Index survey report, 73% of the employees want remote working to continue in the post-pandemic period. Nonetheless, 67% of the employees prefer an in-person working environment. Further, 66% of the leaders said that their office is considering a hybrid work model.

Another survey conducted by Zoom Video Communications (ZM - Free Report) in collaboration with SurveyMonkey revealed that 65% of the respondents who have been remotely working over the last year preferred a hybrid work environment. In contrast, 20% of the surveyed candidates opted for work from office. Only 15% preferred complete work from home.

Year-to-Date Price Performance

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Stocks to Watch

Given the upbeat scenario, here are four tech stocks that are well poised to capitalize on the hybrid work prospects.

Alphabet’s Google has been riding on the strength in its cloud arm, Google Cloud. Solid adoption of Google Workspace, driven by the ongoing momentum of the flexible work environment, remains a major positive. Its powerful set of tools including Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Tasks ensure improved productivity, both in work-from-home and in-office setups.

The company has been continuously adding new features to its tools to strengthen Workspace in order to gain momentum across organizations that are highly demanding productivity and collaboration software applications amid the pandemic.

It recently introduced a feature, Time Insights in Google Calendar, to provide a customized experience and help paid Workspace users efficiently manage their time. GOOGL also added new features to Google Meet, through which the software will notify users in case of echo on video calls. Additionally, it introduced advanced features in Google Contacts, by which the software will help Workspace users know their colleagues.

Currently, Alphabet carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Microsoft (MSFT - Free Report) has been gaining from the hybrid working environment due to its growing initiatives to sustain in the present scenario.

The company facilitates flexible working with the help of its cloud platform, Microsoft Azure. MSFT’s notable solutions including Microsoft Power Platform, Dynamics 365, Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Teams, LinkedIn, GitHub, and Microsoft Security help business teams to deliver quick and efficient results while working with flexibility.

This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company’s employee experience platform named Microsoft Viva is a hybrid working tool that is powered by Microsoft 365 and builds on Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Viva empowers people and teams to be their best by bringing knowledge, learning, resources as well as insights into the flow of work.

Further, Microsoft recently acquired a leading company in objectives and key results, Ally.io, to offer deeper communication and improved business results to enterprises amid a hybrid environment.

Zoom Video Communications has been witnessing significant growth from coronavirus-induced lockdowns. The company provides reliable solutions for meetings, chat, phone, webinar, and rooms for ensuring seamless collaboration as well as communication between remote and in-office employees.

The Zacks Rank #3 company recently made Zoom Apps and Zoom Events generally available. Zoom Apps seamlessly incorporates third-party apps within Zoom Meetings and desktop client experience to enhance collaboration, productivity, and entertainment of the hybrid workforce. Zoom Events, conversely, is a platform to create a wide range of interactive and immersive virtual events in order to attract more audiences.

Further, Zoom introduced Zoom Phone Appliances, which include the Zoom technology with hardware from Poly and Yealink. The Phone Appliances supports HD video meetings, phone calls and interactive whiteboarding. The recent solution is focused on improving the hybrid work experience and fostering better collaboration between in-office and remote workforce.

Cisco Systems (CSCO - Free Report) has been gaining momentum in the video conferencing space amid a flexible work culture. The company recently expanded its partnership with AT&T, wherein Cisco’s secure access service edge platform has been made available as a managed service from AT&T. The partnership is aimed to help the hybrid workforce with secure and direct connections to web and SaaS applications.

In addition, this Zacks Rank #3 company collaborated with Bang & Olufsen to launch a business headset, Bang & Olufsen Cisco 980. On the back of Cisco’s integrated meeting controls, adaptive active noise cancellation and frictionless IT management capabilities, the headset ensures to provide a high-quality audio experience to the hybrid workforce.

Further, Cisco introduced a preview of its hybrid work collaboration tool, Webex Hologram, to minimize the gap between virtual and in-person collaboration and thereby provide an enhanced hybrid work experience.

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