Lack of work-life balance and contracting COVID-19 cited as top stressors, as outlined by Microsoft study which focuses on employee wellbeing

SINGAPORE

– Media

OutReach – 29

September 2020 – Workers in Asia Pacific are facing increased

burnout due to lack of separation between work and personal life as well as worry

of contracting COVID-19, according to Microsoft’s latest Work

Trend Index report. On average, close to one third of

workers in Asia Pacific cited increased rates of burnout over the past six

months, with the lack of separation between work duties and personal

obligations as negatively impacting their wellbeing.

Surveying

over 6,000 information and first-line workers across eight countries globally

including Australia, Japan, India and Singapore, the study found that Singapore

and India were the top two countries in the region with workers facing

increased burnout, at 37 percent and 29 percent respectively. In addition,

close to 34 percent of Asia Pacific respondents cited worry about contracting

COVID-19, due to the lack of tech or protective equipment provided by

businesses to effectively socially distance, resulting in increased stress

levels.

“In

the last 6 months, we have seen how COVID-19 has contributed to the evolution

of the workplace — from a physical space to one residing in a virtual world. As

businesses adapt to a new way of working, it is important to examine the

multifaceted impact these changes are having on employees and provide relevant

and timely solutions,” said Rosalind Quek, General Manager, Modern

Workplace, Microsoft Asia.

Inspired by this research and conversations with

customers, Microsoft announced the start of a longer journey to evolve its

productivity tools to promote individual

wellbeing and organizational resilience.

A series of updates have been launched within Microsoft Teams to support

employee wellbeing. These include a virtual commute experience that helps users

prepare for the day and mindfully disconnect in the evening and new insights that

supports managers and leaders in understanding how work happens, and its impact

on employee wellbeing. Microsoft has also partnered with Headspace to bring a

curated set of mindfulness and meditation experiences into the Teams platform

and launched new Teams experiences for Firstline

Workers to support them with

the tools they need to work more safely.

Key

Findings from the research include:

The

pandemic increased burnout at work — in some countries more than others. Causes

of workplace stress differ for Firstline and remote workers. Six

months in, there are more communications and fewer boundaries. No

commute may be hurting, not helping, remote worker productivity. Studies

show meditation can fight burnout and stress during the workday.

1.

The pandemic increased burnout at work — in some

countries more than others

In

Asia Pacific, 29 percent of respondents cited that the pandemic has increased

their sense of burnout at work. However, Microsoft’s research showed that everyone

is experiencing this differently. For instance, Microsoft found that 37 percent

of workers in Singapore are experiencing higher rates of burnout than those in

Australia, India and Japan. While burnout can be attributed to many factors,

the chart below explores how longer workdays impact feelings of burnout. For

example, workers in Australia[1] saw the highest increase

in workday span in Microsoft Teams at 45 percent, with a medium increase in

burnout while workers in Germany saw very little change to workday span or

feelings of burnout.

Link to image

2.

Causes of workplace stress differ for firstline

and remote workers

The report also revealed that the top stressor shared

globally was worry about contracting COVID-19, followed by lack of separation

between work and life, feeling disconnected from co-workers, and unmanageable

workload or hours. In Asia, the study found that over 34 percent of workers have not been provided

the tech or protective equipment they need to effectively socially distance by

their company, resulting to increased stress levels. This was higher than the

global average by 4 percentage points. In addition, among the stressors

reported by remote workers, the lack of separation between work and life and

feeling disconnected from coworkers ranked highest.

Countries

across Asia also had cited differing factors contributing to work stress. In Australia

and Singapore, the lack of separation between work and life was the top

stressor with 24 percent and 31 percent respectively, with the feeling of

isolation coming closely behind at 22 and 28 percent. However, in countries

such as India and Japan, 42 percent and 26 percent respectively cited the

inability to socially distance and the worry about contracting COVID-19 while

on the job as a top stressor.

3.

Six months in there are more communications and fewer

boundaries

Having

identified lack of separation between work and life, along with unmanageable

work hours, as top workplace stressors, Microsoft turned to usage patterns in Teams for

more insight.

Data

showed that globally, even six months past the first work-from-home orders, people are in significantly more

meetings, taking more ad hoc calls and managing more incoming chats than they

did before the pandemic. As people adjusted to remote working, after hours

chats, or chats between 5pm and midnight, have also increased.

Link to image

4.

No commute may be hurting, not helping, productivity for

remote workers in Asia

For

years, Microsoft’s research group has been studying how commute has helped

maintain work-life boundaries–and worker’s productivity and wellbeing. A 2017

study helps us understand the productivity benefits of commute time. As part of

the study, a digital assistant used chat conversations featuring task- and

emotion-based questions to help participants prepare and detach from work

through the day. The study found that 6 in 10 people (61 percent) globally felt

they were more productive when the digital assistant helped them ramp up to and

down from work. On average, productivity increased between 12 and 15 percent.

The

new virtual commute experience in Teams will help workers have a productive

start in the morning and mindfully disconnect in the evening. Users can expect to

customize their experiences from a set of suggested tasks such as meditation

with the Headspace app, reflecting on the day or helping workers close out on

outstanding tasks.

5.

Studies show meditation can fight burnout and stress

during the workday

Of

those surveyed in Asia, 73 percent said meditation could help decrease their work-related stress.

External research backs this up —

consistent meditation with Headspace can decrease stress

and burnout

and improve

your ability to react to negative feedback.

Thus,

Microsoft’s partnership with Headspace will offer workers the ability to

schedule ad hoc or recurring time for mindfulness breaks anytime — before a big

meeting or to find focus needed to start on an important project.

As

Microsoft continues to learn more about wellbeing at work, users can expect to

see related innovation continue to be developed across Microsoft 365 and Teams.

For more information on the product updates mentioned in this report visit the Microsoft

365 blog. You can also read the full research here[2].

[1]

Workday span is the time between a person’s first and last active use of

Microsoft Teams, such as sending a chat, editing a document or attending a

meeting. [2]Privacy

approach: Microsoft takes privacy seriously. We remove all personal data and

organization- identifying data, such as company

name, from the data before

using it to produce reports.

We never use customer content such as information within

an email, chat,

document, or meeting

to produce reports.

Our goal is to discover and share broad workplace trends

from aggregated data from the Microsoft Graph.



About Microsoft

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organization on the planet to achieve more.