(Bloomberg) — More than two years after remote work and hybrid jobs became widespread, there’s still a huge divide in how it’s doing: About 85% of managers worry they can’t tell if employees are getting enough done while 87% of workers say their productivity is okay.
That’s according to a company recruitment survey by Microsoft Corp., the workplace software giant and owner of LinkedIn. Managers’ fears of idle workers are fueling what Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella calls “productivity paranoia,” with unintended consequences — like spying on employees.
“Leaders think their employees aren’t productive, while employees think they’re productive and in many cases even feel burned out,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “One of the most important things for us in this new world of work and hybrid work is to bridge this paradox.”
Microsoft has surveyed employees across a wide range of industries around the world several times a year during the pandemic — the latest data surveyed 20,000 people in 11 countries — with the aim of tracking trends and adapting its technology to customer needs.
Data has consistently revealed a disconnect between managers and the grassroots, and Microsoft offers tools like its employee experience software Viva to help bridge that gap. Viva now has over 10 million active monthly users at companies like PayPal Holdings Inc. and Unilever Plc who use it to help teams align their goals and stay connected.
But even though new communication tools are bringing bosses closer to employees, Microsoft wants executives to know that workplace monitoring isn’t the answer to increasing productivity.
“There’s a growing debate about employee surveillance, and we have a really strong stance — we just think that’s wrong,” said Jared Spataro, a vice president at Microsoft. “We don’t think employers should be monitoring and taking note of keystroke activity and mouse clicks and the like because in many ways we feel this is measuring heat rather than outcome.”
Microsoft itself had to adjust and recall some features in its workplace products because they allowed this type of behavior. In 2020, the company made changes to its Productivity Score feature that privacy advocates said made it too easy to spy on individual workers.
Other pandemic-related work trends, such as mass layoffs, appear to be phasing out. For the first time in 18 months, what LinkedIn and Microsoft dubbed the “Great Reshuffle” and others called the “Great Resignation” is slowing. According to Ryan Roslansky, who runs the service, more and more people are switching jobs on LinkedIn every year. And more job openings are for personal roles.
Before the pandemic, 2% of jobs on LinkedIn were listed as remote, a number that has risen to 20% by March 2022. Now it’s down to 15%, he said.
Many senior business leaders are longing to return to the days of pre-pandemic in-person work, Spataro said. But Microsoft still recommends a flexible approach.
“People come to work for other people, not because of any politics,” Nadella said.