How Ontarians Feel about the Digital Economy - The OVH Barometer polled residents on their feelings and attitudes towards technological advances in the workplace

TORONTO, Dec. 5, 2017 /CNW Telbec/ - OVH, one of the top five largest cloud computing providers in the world, has released its second set of findings from the OVH Barometer on the Digital Society. The barometer polled 2,000 residents of both Ontario and Quebec (1,000 in each province) for their thoughts and feedback on the digital economy and how technology has changed their jobs and more.

Impact of technology on jobs
Among respondents in Ontario, 47 per cent felt that technology had partially transformed their jobs, and only 24% think it has been totally transformed. For those feeling their jobs have been totally transformed, this sentiment skewed higher for men compared to women (49 vs. 44 per cent) and there was a significant disproportion when comparing results by income. Respondents making upwards of $100k skewed much higher (56 per cent) when looking at the effects of technology on their jobs, compared to those making less than $40k at just 38 per cent.

Are Ontario's millennials leading the digital transition?
According to the barometer, millennials are the ones who feel the most impacted by the advent of technology on jobs (29 per cent vs. 22 per cent for 35-54 years of age and 23 per cent for 55+). Interestingly, this was the opposite of Quebec respondents, where it was those 55+ that felt most impacted (41 per cent), compared to the other age groups at 30 per cent, respectively.

"Millennials are presumably the ones using technological tools the most in their daily jobs," says Guillaume Gilbert, communications officer at OVH. "But more than this, when strong innovation clusters occur, new professions emerge that revolutionize old ways of doing things, and millennials are often those responsible for designing and developing these advances in technology. Understandably this explains the impact reported by this age group. Interestingly, according to 2017 Institute for the Future (IFTF) figures, 85 per cent of jobs that will be held in 2030 don't exist yet."

Do Millennials have a professional advantage?
The consensus among respondents was that those who grew up with Internet culture (also known as digital natives) have an advantage in professional circles because of increased digital knowledge. Of the respondents, 82 per cent either completely agree or somewhat agree with this statement. The concern as it relates to knowledge of technology was clear with another 82 per cent also either completely agreeing or somewhat agreeing that a lack of technological knowledge is an obstacle to employment.

Ontarians are convinced that technology helps stimulate growth
The vast majority of respondents (83 per cent) believe technology has helped stimulate growth and improved productivity in businesses. Those positive sentiments towards technology were highest among younger respondents, those 18-34 years of age, as well as those with a university education (both at 90 per cent).

Real estate apps dominate interest, over sharing economy apps
Considering Ontario has been a hot real estate market for some time now, it's not entirely surprising that the application considered most useful to residents (44 per cent) was a virtual real estate marketplace that shows property value movements in real time. This was followed by applications that promote the sharing economy, like ride sharing (32 per cent), and applications that simplify and enable crowd funding (25 per cent). Unsurprisingly, when looking at the different age groups, the real estate application was of most interest to those 55 plus, whereas the crowd funding resonated higher with the younger respondents, those 18-34 years of age.

"These results are interesting to see as there's a clear belief that technology has stimulated economic growth among businesses, yet respondents don't necessarily feel impacted by it," says Guillaume Gilbert, communications officer, at OVH. "The fact is, technology is changing fast and it's imperative that cities keep up if they want to thrive in this marketplace, so it'll be interesting to see how the opinions of residents change over the next five years."  

Editors note: The OVH Barometer was conducted with the purpose of better understanding the opinions of Ontario and Quebec residents on aspects of the digital society. This study is based on a quantitative survey conducted online between July 21 and July 28, 2017 with a panel representative of the Ontario and Quebec populations. More specifically, it was conducted with 2,000 respondents, 1,000 in Ontario and 1,000 in Quebec. Results were weighted to reflect the population distributions in Ontario and Quebec, based on sex, age, first language, and level of education among the respondents.

OVH in Canada
Active in Canada since 2012, OVH has rolled out four business units, in Montreal, Beauharnois, Quebec City and Toronto, which employs more than 200 people. Its 360,000-server data center on the South Shore of Montreal has broadened its accessibility and made it possible for OVH to serve nearly one million customers worldwide, making the Montreal region one of the largest data centers in the world.

About OVH
OVH is a global hyper-scale cloud provider that offers innovative products and services focusing on private, public and hybrid cloud, and bare metal. Founded in 1999, the company is an established partner for more than a million of professionals worldwide. OVH owes its success not only to a development model built on innovation, but also to maintaining full control over the supply chain, from server manufacturing and in-house maintenance of its infrastructure right down to customer support. OVH ensures stable and reliable product and service offerings to clients across all its brands, while providing the best value. To know more: www.OVH.com and follow the company on Twitter @ovh.

SOURCE OVH