Microsoft CEO Nadella: the boss is afraid of employees being lazy when telecommuting, but this is the wrong idea.

CTOnews.com, September 26 (Xinhua) since the global outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, telecommuting has become a new choice for more and more companies, thanks to the rise of Internet infrastructure and cloud-based services. However, whether telecommuting can improve productivity is still a controversial topic.

In a recent report on changing attitudes in the workplace, Satya Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, made his point, saying that bosses were afraid of employees being lazy when they telecommuted, but that was the wrong idea.

The report surveyed 20000 people in 11 countries and analyzed trillions of Microsoft productivity signals, as well as LinkedIn labor trends and Glint People Science survey results.

"We have to overcome what we call 'productivity paranoia' because all the data we have show that more than 80% of employees think telecommuting is productive, while only management thinks they are unproductive," Nadella said in the report. this means that there is a real disconnect between expectations and feelings. "

Nadella said survey data showed that 87 per cent of Microsoft employees thought they were more productive when working from home, while 80 per cent of Microsoft management thought their employees were less productive. Nadella also pointed out that before the COVID-19 epidemic, only 2 per cent of LinkedIn vacancies were allowed to work remotely, but since the outbreak, that proportion has jumped to 20 per cent.

▼ Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

CTOnews.com has learned that companies such as Tesla, Google and Apple have been actively trying to get employees back to the office, while Microsoft has been much more moderate. Microsoft's current telecommuting policy allows 50% of the working time at home, while the other 50% of the time requires management approval.

Microsoft data show that so-called Gen Z employees are most likely to change jobs, with 90 per cent of LinkedIn-related Gen Z employees changing jobs in some way during the outbreak. Microsoft is exploring new products to meet the expectations of young employees.

Full report: click here to view