Organisations watch out, talent is on the move again

This year employees’ job-switching intent has nearly doubled, compared to the previous two years, finds Microsoft’s 2021 Work Trend Index. Last year, as the world struggled to adapt to a new way of working during the pandemic, 70 per cent of employees planned to remain at their organisation. This year 41 per cent of employees plan to leave their current employer.

Ironically enough, the biggest reason for people opting to move seems to be because a lot more remote jobs have now opened up as the result of the new way of working, offering interesting new career possibilities, analysed Nicole Herskowitz, general manager at Microsoft (MS Teams and MS365 platform) during a press briefing. Forty-six per cent of those surveyed said they’re likely to move because they can now work remotely.

Microsoft’s Work Trend Index outlines findings from a study of over 30,000 people in 31 countries, as well as an analysis of trillions of productivity and labour signals across Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn.

According to data from LinkedIn (the professional social networking platform acquired by Microsoft), remote job postings increased more than 5X during the pandemic (March 2020 –December 2020).

Challenges and Opportunities

The report highlights several urgent trends unleashed by the new way we work that need the attention of leaders.

For starters, employee expectations have changed. They need extreme flexibility and want to work from home (73 per cent want remote work to stay). At the same time, they want in-person meetings with their team members (67 per cent). This points to a hybrid model being the way forward. Sixty-six per cent of leaders surveyed did say their companies were planning a space design to factor in a hybrid work model

The second challenge thrown up by the study was that leaders were out of tune with their employees. Thirty-seven per cent of workers said the company was asking too much of them. The biggest affected cohort seemed to be Gen Z, which reported struggling.

Also, though companies were achieving higher productivity, the workforce was more exhausted.

The lack of in-person interactions also seems to be affecting innovation, finds the Microsoft study.

Collaboration trends in Microsoft Teams and Outlook suggest that people are talking only to their immediate teams but not the organisation’s broader network. “Simply put, companies became more siloed than they were pre-pandemic,” says the report.

“When you lose connections, you stop innovating,” says Dr Nancy Baym, senior principal researcher at Microsoft.

The positive trend highlighted by the Work Trend Index is that a more diverse talent pool opens up for organisations – geographically as well as gender and age-wise. Remote work will open up access to talent from places previously organizations did not hire from, as well as more women and Gen Z will apply.

The way forward to deal with these challenges and opportunities suggests Microsoft is to put in place a structured hybrid work model, investing in space and technology, combat digital exhaustion and rethink employee experience.

COMMENT NOW