Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, has warned that an
ever-expanding workweek, which now sometimes extends far into the night, could
harm employee well-being.

A Microsoft study shows that around a third of white-collar
workers enjoy a “third peak” of productivity late at night, based on
keyboard activity, according to Nadella, whose company has investigated how
remote work affects cooperation. Productivity usually peaks before and after
lunch, but this third peak demonstrates how remote work has blurred the lines
between our work and personal life. Nadella, speaking at the Wharton Future of
Work Conference on Thursday, said managers must establish clear rules and
expectations for employees so that they are not pressed to respond to emails
late at night.

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“We think about productivity through collaboration and output
metrics, but well-being is one of the most important pieces of productivity,”
he said. “We know what stress does to workers. We need to learn the soft
skills, good old-fashioned management practices, so people have their
well-being taken care of. I can set that expectation, that our people can get
an email from the CEO on the weekend and not feel that they have to respond.”

According to a Harris poll commissioned by online counselling
provider Talkspace, two out of three employees who are considering leaving
their job believe their employer has not followed through on early epidemic
promises to focus on employee mental health.

According to a new survey of Microsoft employees, roughly 30% of
them had “work peaks” in the morning, afternoon, and, to a lesser
extent, around 10 p.m. According to Microsoft, the typical workday has
increased by 46 minutes, or 13%, since the epidemic began, with time spent on
after-hours work increasing even faster, by 28%. Workers are increasingly
adopting more asynchronous schedules, which do not always align with those of
their far-flung colleagues or supervisors, according to the research.

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During the pandemic, Microsoft hired around 50,000 people,
according to Nadella. People are increasingly seeking more flexibility in where
and when they work, especially in the technology sector, he said. According to
an ongoing survey of knowledge workers – software programmers, data analysts,
and the like – conducted by Future Forum, a research consortium backed by
Slack, more than three out of four people want the ability to choose where they
work, and 95% want the ability to set their own schedule.

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