Microsoft’s New Future of Work Report 2022 | Microsoft

This newly released 111-page report summarizes recent research developments related to hybrid work. It provides one of the most comprehensive reviews of various studies by researchers at Microsoft and elsewhere on the future of work through the lens of hybrid work and remote work. The report is organized by changes in work practices at four different “scales.” 1) The individuals scale considers topics like the effects of remote and hybrid work on productivity and wellbeing, as well as the evolving relationship between work and ‘life’. 2) The teams scale considers topics like patterns of collaboration, the role of different tools, meetings and asynchronous collaboration, and virtual and mixed reality. 3) The organizations scale considers topics like social capital, cross-team communication, systemic loneliness, office space, employee expectations, and the Great Reshuffle. 4) The society scale considers topics like the changing geography of work and remote work, disparate impacts, and sustainability. Each of these sections is replete with data points and research. The report concludes with a section (page 86-105) that forecasts future challenges and opportunities related to hybrid work. One forecast is “we are likely entering the biggest period of experimentation in work models in decades.” Some companies will try new things as a differentiator in a tight labor market, such as alternative pay structures—where they base pay on a certain output from employees rather than time spent working. Other ideas are discussed.