Around the world, people have worked from home for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic. This fact has shown deep changes in people’s feelings. In Brazil, the home office is leading to a pandemic of burnout, according to a survey carried out by the analytics firm Harris.
The survey commissioned by Microsoft showed that 33% of people who are working remotely say that the lack of separation between work and personal life is negatively impacting their well-being.
Harris heard more than 6,000 people around the world, in 8 countries, including Brazil. It was even the Brazilians who responded to having the greatest feeling of burnout according to the survey: 44% of respondents said that the pandemic increased this feeling of exhaustion concerning work. The following are Singapore (37%), the United States (31%), India (29%), and Australia (28%).
The data is part of news announced by Microsoft at Ignite, a company’s corporate event. This year Ignite is completely online and starts today, Tuesday, 22.
Brazilian workers are leading with stress
According to the survey, the most stressful factor for Brazilian workers was the impossibility of distancing themselves and the concern of contracting COVID-19 during work, a reason cited by 32% of the people who responded to the survey. Another reason often cited was the feeling of isolation and distance from co-workers and staff.
The most common answer given by Brazilians is the same given by workers on the front line, who interact with companies with the public and other companies. Another factor mentioned was the high workload.
In addition to the data on exhaustion, Microsoft’s research also brought up other points. One is that the future of work is likely to be shaped by the experience we currently have.
The Work Trend Index, released by the giant, points out that 82% of managers and leaders in companies expect more flexible policies for remote work after the pandemic has passed. The figure that includes employers and workers points out that 71% want this flexibility.
According to Jared Spataro, vice president responsible for Microsoft 365, the data is impressive and points out that people have spent more time at conferences and meetings on tools like Teams than before the pandemic. “The working day has increased by almost an hour in most countries. The data shows that people are working, ” he said in a conversation with the Brazilian media Exame. “But we are realizing that humans are not machines, productivity is not about working more hours.”
humans are not machines, productivity is not about working more hours.
Jared Spataro, VP of Microsoft 365
Spataro also says that each month of the pandemic meant a year of technological innovation and the adoption of digital transformation tools. The use of video as a work tool has doubled since March, for example. In this sense, Microsoft has focused on developing features to make remote work easier.
“We cannot pretend that we know what to do. We have to talk to consumers, ask and understand the demands, ”said Spataro, who said the company is presenting solutions, such as improving video calls, or the“ Together ”mode, which allows everyone to be included in a call. in the same virtual scenario.
Spataro will have a panel on the future of work, in which he will present more data during Ignite this Tuesday. You can follow the presentation on this link.
Meditation as a “virtual subway”
Some routines ceased to exist during the pandemic, such as the commute. In big cities like São Paulo, not having to spend hours in traffic or on the subway was a blessing for many people. But a Microsoft survey, conducted in 2017 and done with the help of virtual assistants, points out that the pre-work preparation routine helps focus, and a decompression routine helps shut down. For many people, the trip to work had a fundamental role in preparing and distancing themselves from work.
In this sense, Microsoft entered into a partnership with the meditation app Headspace, which allows creating the experience of a “virtual work trip” within Teams, with tools that end the tasks and link the guided meditation of the app. “We need time to prepare and recover,” Spataro reiterated.