Finding remote working a bit of a grind? Microsoft staffers feel your pain
(2020/10/23)
- Reference: 1603462807
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/10/23/microsoft_july_2021/
- Source link:
Remote working is the gift that keeps on giving, as Microsoft's workforce reacted glumly to the Windows giant's plan to push back the reopening of its US offices.
The company had outlined [1]new guidance earlier this month on how things might look in a post-pandemic world (no more than 50 per cent of the time at home without agreement, a potential salary tinkering if employees leave town - that sort of thing) but the announcement that a hoped-for return to relatively normal office life was to slip from January 2021 to July 2021 has come as a bit of a blow for staff.
As remains the norm, even in these abnormal times, workers took to social media to express their disappointment.
MSFT announced that the first opportunity for things to return to normal won't be until July 2021, and almost universally, the people around me at work have hit new lows emotionally (myself included). The long, slow decline of productivity will get faster & steeper this winter. — Carmen Crincoli, but Fhqwhgads (@CarmenCrincoli) [2]October 22, 2020
While some have enjoyed the transition to a life of remote working, others have enjoyed the process... not so much. A lack of choice in the matter was cited as one factor, while others highlighted that the novelty value soon wore off.
First [3]reported by veteran Microsoft watcher [4]Mary Jo Foley , the 21 October internal email pushed things back to 6 July 2021, with working from home "strongly encouraged" albeit with some exceptions depending on the US state. Reopening outside of the US depends on the policies implemented for each country.
In terms of the UK operation, Microsoft told us that "the situation hasn’t changed, we do not have a set date for a return to the office and per government guidelines we continue to encourage staff to work from home where possible."
It seems a long time ago that [5]we took a trip to Microsoft's Stockholm office, which had been deliberately sized to encourage remote working; there were only 237 workstations for the approximately 600 workers employed in the region. Back then, Microsoft's US staffers [6]were not having the best of time with the company's open plan office approach. How things have changed.
Other tech giants have also made changes in light of the ongoing pandemic. In July Fujitsu [7]announced plans to shutter half of its Japanese office space by 2022 and Dell [8]warned in August that the majority of its workforce was unlikely to be heading back to the office on a regular basis.
For those employees who would not have chosen a life working from a closet at home, things remain tough. We would, however, remind them Microsoft also has a plan for that other bellwether of pandemic preparedness: toilet paper.
We were told that the Azure smarts behind that Stockholm office tracks what gets used, so there'll be no sneaky stocking up by remote workers in Sweden at least. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/12/microsoft_work_from_home_policy/
[2] https://twitter.com/CarmenCrincoli/status/1319352462319386625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[3] https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-pushes-back-return-to-work-target-date-from-january-to-july-2021/
[4] https://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/us/mary-jo-foley/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2019/12/09/microsoft_stockholm/
[6] https://twitter.com/threddyrex/status/1202308224344420352
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/06/fujitsu_we_are_closing_50/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/28/dell_q2_2021_work_from_home/
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The company had outlined [1]new guidance earlier this month on how things might look in a post-pandemic world (no more than 50 per cent of the time at home without agreement, a potential salary tinkering if employees leave town - that sort of thing) but the announcement that a hoped-for return to relatively normal office life was to slip from January 2021 to July 2021 has come as a bit of a blow for staff.
As remains the norm, even in these abnormal times, workers took to social media to express their disappointment.
MSFT announced that the first opportunity for things to return to normal won't be until July 2021, and almost universally, the people around me at work have hit new lows emotionally (myself included). The long, slow decline of productivity will get faster & steeper this winter. — Carmen Crincoli, but Fhqwhgads (@CarmenCrincoli) [2]October 22, 2020
While some have enjoyed the transition to a life of remote working, others have enjoyed the process... not so much. A lack of choice in the matter was cited as one factor, while others highlighted that the novelty value soon wore off.
First [3]reported by veteran Microsoft watcher [4]Mary Jo Foley , the 21 October internal email pushed things back to 6 July 2021, with working from home "strongly encouraged" albeit with some exceptions depending on the US state. Reopening outside of the US depends on the policies implemented for each country.
In terms of the UK operation, Microsoft told us that "the situation hasn’t changed, we do not have a set date for a return to the office and per government guidelines we continue to encourage staff to work from home where possible."
It seems a long time ago that [5]we took a trip to Microsoft's Stockholm office, which had been deliberately sized to encourage remote working; there were only 237 workstations for the approximately 600 workers employed in the region. Back then, Microsoft's US staffers [6]were not having the best of time with the company's open plan office approach. How things have changed.
Other tech giants have also made changes in light of the ongoing pandemic. In July Fujitsu [7]announced plans to shutter half of its Japanese office space by 2022 and Dell [8]warned in August that the majority of its workforce was unlikely to be heading back to the office on a regular basis.
For those employees who would not have chosen a life working from a closet at home, things remain tough. We would, however, remind them Microsoft also has a plan for that other bellwether of pandemic preparedness: toilet paper.
We were told that the Azure smarts behind that Stockholm office tracks what gets used, so there'll be no sneaky stocking up by remote workers in Sweden at least. ®
Get our [9]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/12/microsoft_work_from_home_policy/
[2] https://twitter.com/CarmenCrincoli/status/1319352462319386625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
[3] https://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-pushes-back-return-to-work-target-date-from-january-to-july-2021/
[4] https://www.zdnet.com/meet-the-team/us/mary-jo-foley/
[5] https://www.theregister.com/2019/12/09/microsoft_stockholm/
[6] https://twitter.com/threddyrex/status/1202308224344420352
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/07/06/fujitsu_we_are_closing_50/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/28/dell_q2_2021_work_from_home/
[9] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
AndrueC
I will retire rather than go back to working in an office.
chivo243
I thought I would like working from home, but I've been WFH the past week and a half, and I feel out of touch when I'm away too long. Glad I go back to 50-50 next week!
Not all great.
Companies like MS are obviously seeing some significant cost savings by not having staff in offices. Let's see - heating (and cooling), general power savings, water rates, canteen costs, parking, security, admin staff (receptionists) let alone actual building costs inc rates and insurance. Having staff kept in their own homes, using their own energy, water, food and heating/cooling without ANY compensation made those bean counters sit up and take notice. The mental health issues, inc productivity issues are a small price to pay. Money talks after all.