With the booming developments in AI, the shift towards remote and hybrid structures, and the growing push towards people-centric cultures, workplace trends in 2025 are hyper focused on technology and overcoming employee morale challenges. As a result, intranet software has quickly evolved to stay ahead of the barriers that remote and hybrid settings can present, while also bridging communication gaps to avoid lower engagement levels.
What’s an intranet? An intranet is a piece of software that centralizes the information and tools organizations need to work internally. This includes files and documents, third party tools, news and announcements and engagement features.
In this post, we compiled the most current intranet statistics and studies that highlight how an intranet addresses many workplace challenges employees and employers face. Here are 56 stats about intranet software and organizational trends:
Top Company Intranet Benefits
As technology has advanced, so have the ways workplaces communicate and collaborate as cohesive units. This has made the role of intranets imperative to internal operations and success. What was once a static piece of software predominately used for a people directory, today’s intranet software supports numerous organizational goals, including engagement, internal communication, knowledge sharing, and even customer support.
- Organizations that installed social media tools internally found a median of 20% increase in employee satisfaction. – Deloitte
- Improved communication and collaboration through social technologies could raise the productivity of interaction workers by 20-25%. – McKinsey
- Organizations with strong online social networks are 7% more productive than those without. – Deloitte
- 87% of respondents agree that intranets facilitate strong communication. – Simpplr
Onboarding and training
Onboarding new hires plays a pivotal role in an organization’s success because it’s the first official experience a new employee will have to start learning the skills they need to be successful. It’s also one of the first interactions they have with the company’s culture and fellow employees.
For the employer, onboarding requires a lot of time, resources, and money. In fact, it can cost up to $4,000 to train a new employee. A company intranet helps workplaces streamline the entire process by moving materials they may need, such as training packets, employee handbooks, videos, and files, into one workspace. A successful onboarding program needs to be efficient and comprehensive, which is why an intranet can be an important tool.
- When intranets are effectively used, organizations can decrease employee onboarding time by an average of 20%. – Forrester
- 89% of employees report higher engagement following an effective onboarding process. – BambooHR
- 69% of employees surveyed at an organization were more likely to stay with their current employer for up to 3 years if they had a good onboarding experience. – SHRM
- 42% of employees who willingly left their job reported that their manager or organization could have done something to prevent them from leaving their job. – Gallup
- 27% of US workers quit their jobs in 2023. – SHRM
- The cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee’s annual salary. – Gallup
Information sharing and knowledge management
According to Gartner, workers spend an average of 18 minutes looking for one file. Studies around knowledge management indicate that many of today’s employees struggle to find information. In some cases, this is due to inadequate technology and in other cases, organizations are not sharing relevant information at all. Inefficiently centralizing or providing knowledge has the potential to significantly waste resources. Many workplaces turn to an intranet to centralize content and information so that employees can work more efficiently and waste less time retrieving the information they need.
- Improving employee access to information and tools could save organizations roughly $2 million a month for every 4,000 employees. – CFO
- Fortune 500 companies lose $31 billion from not sharing knowledge within their organization every year. – CFO
- The average worker spends 20% of the workweek tracking down information and people to find answers. – McKinsey
- 83% of respondents say they have problems accessing the data they need to do their jobs. – CSO Insights
- 27% of employees and 38% of managers feel overwhelmed by too much information. – Gartner
- 47% of digital workers struggle to find information or data they need. – Gartner
Remote and hybrid work
Research shows remote work is on the rise, with less than 30% of knowledge workers in offices daily. However, without the proper technology, remote teams will struggle to collaborate, feel connected to their team, and do their jobs efficiently. Intranets respond to these challenges by providing accessible resources, engaging communication channels, and a platform to connect, fueling a smooth workflow that adapts to numerous workplace environments.
- Stanford conducted a study in 2020 and found remote employees were 5% more productive than in-office employees. By 2022, they found that remote workers were 9% more productive, which they correlate to workplaces better understanding remote best practices and investing in the right technology to support it. – Stanford University
- 58% of workers have the option to work from home at least one day a week, 35% have the option 5 days a week, and 87% will say yes to flexibility with workplace option. – McKinsey
- 90% of organizations have embraced a range of hybrid work models that allow employees to work remotely from off-site locations (including home) for some or much of the time—and 4 out of 5 employees who have worked in hybrid models over the past 2 years want to retain them. – McKinsey (2023 The State of Organizations)
- 77% of deskless workers want better technology to help them in communications, operations and logistics, onboarding, and training. – Emergence
- 25% of deskless workers see the lack of purpose-built technology as one of their major obstacles at work. – Skedulo
Internal communications
Communication plays an imperative role in connecting and aligning the workplace. The very reason communication is important is the very reason why so many organizations struggle developing a communications strategy that’s actually effective. The lack of communication or siloed departments can have direct impacts on numerous factions that make up a successful company, which includes, employee engagement, knowledge sharing, collaboration, and employee morale.
- 86% of employees and executives cite the lack of effective collaboration and communication as the main causes of workplace failures. – Pumble
- When employees are offered better communication technology and skills, productivity can increase by up to 30%. – Expert Market
- 57% of employees feel that they are not given clear directions, and 69% of managers report generally not feeling comfortable communicating with their employees. – HBR
- Poor communication could cost your company more than 18% of the total salaries paid. – 2022 State of Business Communication Report
- It is estimated that ineffective communication is costing businesses in the U.S. as much as $1.2 trillion per year in wasted labor hours. – Harris Poll
- 46% of respondents believe their organization does not invest enough in communication technology. – Gallagher
- 66% of people say they’ve stopped dealing with a company and moved to a competitor due to poor business communication skills. – Project.co
- 13% of employees strongly agree the leadership of their organization communicates effectively with the rest of the organization. – Gallup
- 72% of employees do not fully understand their company’s strategy. – IBM
Email alternative
Email will continue to reign over workplace communication channels, but trends show that as it pertains to internal communication, employees are using other tools to chat and collaborate. According to Pumble’s Communication in the Workplace Statistics 2024, 50% of the surveyed employees use online chat or project management tools to communicate. This points to a stronger need for other forms of communication, which ties into a significant intranet benefit: the ability to replace email with more effective internal communication tools.
- Employees spend 28% of the workweek managing emails. – McKinsey
- Removing email from the work environment would free between 7-8% of workers’ time for more productive tasks. – McKinsey
- The average employee spends 3.6 hours daily searching for information. – Coveo
- Employees draft an average of 112 emails a week, spending just over five-and-a-half minutes on each, which amounts to 11 hours a week writing emails. – OnePoll and Slack
- Employees spend, on average, at least two hours a day (25% of their work week) looking for the documents, information, or people they need to do their jobs. – The Harris Poll
- 77% of companies believe email is no longer a viable tool for effective communication. – Deloitte
Collaboration and employee productivity
Collaboration is paramount to a successful company. As cited in numerous studies, today’s employees are relying heavily on project management and task management tools to communicate and work together. According to Gartner, the use of digital collaboration tools increased by 44% between 2019 and 2021. A direct result of the pandemic, digital collaboration tools have become a necessity for organizations working remotely and in person.
- 70% of employees agree that poor collaboration is limiting their productivity and wasting their time. – Alludo
- Companies that promote collaboration and communication at work have been linked to reducing employee turnover rates by 50%. – Zippia
- 73% of employees do better work when collaborating. – B2B Reviews
- Highly aligned companies grow revenue 58% faster and are 72% more profitable than their unaligned competitors. – LSA Global
- ~40% of respondents point to complex organizational structure as a cause of inefficiency, and a similar proportion cites unclear roles and responsibilities. – McKinsey (The State of Organizations 2023)
- People who collaborate on the job and who have access to digital collaboration tools are up to 17% more satisfied with their job and workplace culture. – Zippia
- Companies that use technology for teamwork see a 20% boost in productivity. – Smartsheet
- When Cisco implemented new collaboration tools and internal processes for their 80,000 employees, they saw:
- A 9x return on investment
- Saved $691 million in fiscal year 2008
- Increased productivity by 4.9%
Company culture and engagement
In 2024, employee engagement reached an 11-year low for U.S. employees. According to Gallup’s study, the most significant drop occurred with young employees under 35. So, what does this mean? Employees are becoming increasingly detached from their company’s mission, which can lead to lower profits and innovation. As we enter 2025, rethinking company culture and examining tools to drive the values that motivate employees should be a priority for many organizations.
- Profits are 23% higher with an engaged workforce. – Gallup
- 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a “distinct workplace culture is important to business success.” – Deloitte
- Workplaces with strong culture saw 4x increase in revenue growth compared to those with a weak culture. – Corporate Culture and Performance
- 23% of those seeking a job wouldn’t need a pay increase to take a new position. – Haiilo
- An actively disengaged employee costs their organization $3,400 for every $10,000 salary, or 34%. – Gallup
- According to the O.C. Tanner Institute, flexibility, skill building, and career development elevates an employee’s sense of thriving in the workplace.
- Employees who are engaged and aligned with their workplace culture are 36% more productive. – ThriveMap
- 86% of workers who claim to experience omni-connection also reported upgrades to their company’s technology and skillsets, allowing them to work in new ways. – Accenture
- 63% of employees said not being recognized for their achievements is the biggest issue with leadership. – Interact/Harris Poll
- When recognition is part of the workplace, employees are 2.2x more likely to go above and beyond. – Great Place to Work
The bottom line.
These intranet statistics underscore a compelling narrative: intranets are not just tools for connectivity, but catalysts for boosting productivity, fostering culture, and enhancing employee engagement.
Intranet platforms like Axero offer a holistic solution, ensuring that whether an employee is in an office or halfway across the world, they remain aligned with the company’s ethos and objectives.
As we peer into the future of work, the conversation shifts from the ‘why’ of intranets to the ‘how’—how can organizations optimize their digital workplaces to adapt to evolving dynamics? The time is now; not only do leaders need to recognize the profound benefits intranets bring, but they also have to continually refine their strategies in alignment with emerging trends.
