Get Ready For More Workplace Disruption

On the heels of Microsoft’s Viva employee experience platform release comes insightful new research from Microsoft on how the workplace changed during the pandemic and its implication for business leaders on how to manage the post-pandemic work force.

“We’re on the brink of a disruption as great as last year’s sudden shift to remote work: the move to hybrid work — a blended model where some employees return to the workplace and others continue to work from home,” states Microsoft in the report.

It’s clear that flexible work is here to stay: According to the research (conducted by independent research firm, Edelman Data x Intelligence, among 31,092 full-time employed or self-employed workers across 31 markets between January 12, 2021 to January 25, 2021),over 80 percent of managers say they expect more flexible work from home policies post-pandemic, and more than 70 percent of employees say they expect to take advantage of them. 

It’s Microsoft’s contention that to thrive in this new hybrid world, people and organizations need solutions that are fluid, dynamic, and cloud-powered.

Here are the main points from the research:

Flexible work is here to stay

• 70 percent of workers want flexible remote work options to continue.
• Over 65 percent are craving more in-person time with their teams. 
• 42 percent of employees say they lack essential office supplies at home.
• 46 percent say say their employer does not help them with remote work expenses.

Leaders are out of touch with employees and need a wake-up call

• Sixty-one percent of leaders say they are “thriving” right now — 23 percentage points higher than those without decision-making authority.

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High self-assessed productivity is masking an exhausted workforce

• One in five global survey respondents say their employer doesn’t care about their work-life balance.
• Fifty-four percent feel overworked.
• Thirty-nine percent feel exhausted. And trillions of productivity signals from Microsoft 365 quantify the precise digital exhaustion workers are feeling.

Gen Z is at risk and will need to be re-energized

• Sixty percent of those between the ages of 18 and 25 — say they are merely surviving or flat-out struggling right now.

Survey respondents reported that they were more likely to struggle balancing work with life (+8 percentage points) and to feel exhausted after a typical day of work (+8 percentage points) when compared to older generations. Gen Z also reported difficulties feeling engaged or excited about work, getting a word in during meetings, and bringing new ideas to the table.

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