A report by Bloomberg has revealed that nearly one in four executives fired an employee for a video or audio conference blunder. Some of them levied some sort of disciplinary action for gaffes made in virtual meetings. This report has been published after a survey of 200 managers at large companies.

The survey was commissioned by Vyopta Inc. It helps companies manage their workplace collaboration and communication systems. According to the survey, executives don’t fully trust a third of their staff to perform effectively when working remotely.

The findings show how workers are still getting accustomed to working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. Last year, after the outbreak of the pandemic, work from home has become a new normal.

Video conferencing platform Zoom saw calls surging from 10 million a day at the end of 2019 to 300 million in April 2020. Some Zoom miscues, like New Yorker magazine writer Jeffrey Toobin getting fired for inadvertently exposing himself, have been well-publicised.

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Virtual-meeting blunders include joining a call late, having a bad Internet connection, accidentally sharing sensitive information, and of course, not knowing when to mute yourself. These gaffes can hurt businesses, leading to client defections and lost sales opportunities, the survey found. Still, some executives still support the working from home mode. According to Austin, Texas-based Vyopta said it will maintain or expand the number of employees, who are allowed to work a hybrid schedule over the next 12 months.

The comes a day after Zoom Video Communications Inc. shares sank about 16% Tuesday. This has led to disappointment among analysts with its sales forecast.

With many countries allowing schools and offices to restart in person and competition increasing from companies like Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, investors are concerned the days of Zoom’s robust growth are over.

Another survey conducted by Wakefield Research between July 30 and August 10, focussed on 200 executives at the vice president level or higher at companies with at least 500 employees.