Executives Split Over Timeline of Return to Normal

A Gartner survey of global executives at the end of January showed that 52% said their organization would return to “normal” in the third or fourth quarter of 2021, but that was down from 62% just six weeks before. 

Read more: Are Vaccine Passports the Route to a Faster Postpandemic Recovery?

The reality is that many business leaders are still unsure what the future looks like. Gartner surveys of global executives in December 2020 and January 2021 show:

• There was a 10 percentage point drop in leaders predicting “normal” would begin in the first half of 2021 —with an additional 10 percentage point drop of those anticipating the second half.
• There was a 16 percentage point rise in those predicting “normal” will return sometime in 2022, with a 4 percentage point rise in those saying it will be years from now (if ever.) 

Among 130 global enterprise leaders surveyed, just 30% said their organization is definitely including vaccine issues in their overall strategic planning, and another 30% responded that it’s likely that the vaccine will be a consideration.