Microsoft Teams: Hybrid workdays are longer

The Work Trend Index is a study conducted on behalf of Microsoft. The annual report was published for the second time in 2022 and aims to identify trends in hybrid work in corona times. An independent research company surveyed a thousand people each in Germany and 30 other countries for the study.

Health more important, change of work more likely

As a result of the experience of the Corona pandemic, many people have apparently redefined their priorities. Family, health and private life have become more important. According to the survey, a global average of 53 percent of respondents put their health above work compared to before the pandemic. In Germany, however, only 38 percent now explicitly prioritize their well-being.

As a result, 18 percent of employees on average globally say they have quit their job in the past year. They cite personal well-being, lack of work-life balance, fear of Corona, lack of trust in managers or insufficiently flexible working hours and locations as reasons. Among German respondents, only 12 percent quit their jobs for these reasons in 2021.

28 percent of German respondents are also considering leaving their current job this year. Among Millennials and Gen Z respondents in this country, as many as 43 percent are toying with thoughts of quitting. Exactly how Microsoft drew the lines between the age groups remains unclear. Millennials' birth years are placed roughly between 1981 and 1996 - and Gen Z's between 1997 and 2012.

HR managers feel powerless, executives skeptical

HR managers also appear to be dissatisfied in certain respects. Sixty-six percent of the German HR managers surveyed would like to bring about more change for their team, but don't have enough influence or resources to do so. In addition, 51 percent of them feel that the leadership in their company is not close enough to the employees.

In turn, 41 percent of the managers surveyed fear that productivity has suffered under home office or hybrid work. This is in stark contrast to the 85 percent of German employees surveyed who feel they have been as productive or even more productive than the year before.

Desire for the metaverse remains limited

Despite the popularity of home office and hybrid work arrangements, only 24 percent of managers have a plan in place for their team. That means 76 percent don't have a plan. They can consider themselves lucky that only 35 percent of the German employees surveyed believe the biggest challenge of hybrid work is: not knowing exactly when and why they should come into the office.

As the developer of the relevant technology, Microsoft wanted to gauge sentiment toward new meeting options. In Germany, just under half of respondents have an appetite for meetings in virtual spaces or the Metaverse. In fact, 46 percent of German respondents said they would be open to this type of meeting in the coming year. In addition, only 36 percent can imagine attending a Metaverse meeting with an avatar.

More meetings overall, more news, more work

In addition to country-specific data, Microsoft reveals information from its general database in the study. According to the study, since March 2020, the average person sits in meetings with teams 252 percent longer each week than before the pandemic. However, Microsoft does not know how many real meetings are being eliminated in return.

Chat usage has also increased significantly since 2020, with average Teams users currently sending 32 percent more messages in a week than they did two years ago. The span of the workday, as well as weekend and leisure work, also continues to increase. Compared to March 2020, the average Teams user is working 46 minutes longer per day. This means the average time spent working in teams has increased by 13 percent.