Recently, Microsoft released a new global workplace trend report "Great Expectations: Making Hybrid Work", which focuses on the transformation of the future office scenario, the report pointed out that more and more people are experiencing the benefits of flexible work.
It is understood that the data of the Work Trend Index was conducted by market research firm Edelman data x Intelligence from January 7, 2022 to February 16, 2022, interviewing a total of 31,102 full-time employees and freelancers in 31 major markets. It surveyed at least 1,000 full-time employees in each market, and the results reflected the global average.
According to the survey, mixed office is increasingly becoming the new normal in the global labor market, and the workforce has adapted to the work model that coexists with the epidemic. Among them, 57% of respondents prefer to work remotely, and 51% believe that they are considering moving to hybrid work in the next 1 year. At the same time, 43 percent of employees are somewhat or highly likely to consider changing jobs in the coming year, up slightly from 41 percent in the same period last year.
Microsoft pointed out that the hybrid office model is the work model with the greatest potential in the future, and as an emerging medium of the hybrid office model, young people are increasingly interested in AR/VR. 50% of respondents willing to use avatar/metaversic technology at work are younger Gen Z, and 30% said they are unfamiliar with the metaverse or unwilling.
In the "Metaverse is coming to work" section, Microsoft gives the following survey data:
52% of employees are ready to use digital immersive spaces in the metaverse for meetings or team activities next year.
47% of employees are willing to present their avatar Avatar at next year's conference.
51% of Gen Z and 48% of millennials believe that the next two years will try meta-universe office.
16% of employees say they will never work in the metaverse.
13% of employees said they did not know what the term "metaverse" meant.
Mar Gonzalez Franco, principal investigator at Microsoft Research, said: "Our early research showed that people feel more engaged, closer, and even more comfortable when using avatars in meetings than audio-only calls. The person you're talking to will be able to see your body language better, and talking back and forth will also feel more natural. ”
Microsoft notes that it's not only in their best interest to enable people to perform at their best, but also in the business. For hybrid work patterns to work, executives need to consider that emerging technologies like the metaverse and AI can enhance collaboration and foster creativity in a distributed world of work.