Cubicle equals quit for 51% of UK workers, says Microsoft

Source: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images for Microsoft

Microsoft has a long, storied history of producing research spanning various degrees of value. It’s used science to confirm that human beings are not machines, alongside generating more practical data regarding how companies perceive the cybersecurity landscape. Now, Redmond is back with more stats, this time analyzing how UK workers feel about the modern hybrid work landscape.

As the world awakens to the benefits of remote work (benefits many freelancers have enjoyed for decades), it seems more and more people can’t live without it. According to Microsoft, 51% of UK workers would consider quitting their jobs if the flexibility of a hybrid structure was taken off the table.

That’s not the only finding Microsoft uncovered in its joint research operation with YouGov. It also found 36% of UK workers who found new jobs during the pandemic were onboarded entirely remotely. Over a quarter of these workers had trouble with establishing proper work relationships with colleagues and suffered from not having an ever-present source of guidance in the form of an “in the room” manager. In other words, as cool as remote work can be, it’s also causing headaches for certain subsets of workers out there.

However, hybrid work structures were still found to have big advantages over in-office setups lacking remote opportunities. For example, UK HR experts shared concern that employee burnout would skyrocket without hybrid options.

All these results and more can be yours when you check out Microsoft’s blog on its UK worker research, which should be easy enough to skim while you’re at work if you’re remote and don’t have a manager looking over your shoulder.

Red team for life

These are all the best AMD Ryzen-powered laptops

Looking for a new laptop, but you’d prefer to have something powered by AMD Ryzen rather than Intel? The choice isn’t as wide, but fortunately, there are some excellent notebooks out there from which to choose.