This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Bloomberg Quick Takes Tim Stinovic on Bloomberg Radio. Well, our next guest has come to our program a few times over the last couple of years. Uh, and it is a really great uh time to talk with him, because I think we continue to see how we work, where we work, continue to evolve. Back with us with a special report about the company's Microsoft Work Trend Index is Jared's Pitaro.
He's corporate vice president of Microsoft, and he's back with us. He's on the phone in Redmond, Washington. Jared, nice to have you back with Katie Garifeld and myself. So, how are you doing great? Thanks for having me back. I'm excited to be here. Well, we're excited to have you here. And I love this report because you guys, you know, collect so much data, really have a great view in terms of really how people are truly working. Tell us about the latest update on the work Trend Index. Who
you surveyed, Uh, what you found out? What time frame? Give us, give us all all the background on it. Well, our research here at Microsoft is historically focused on what we call information workers. Those are the folks who work at a computer and who often have been working remotely over the last two years, and we decided it really
was time to focus on frontline workers. These frontline workers have really shoulder a lot of the burden over the last two years is they have not been able to go home, and so we wanted to find out kind of what was happening with them, how they were dealing with it, and how work is changing for them, and what would be the lasting trends and what's stuck out to you in the results that you did fun And I'm curious how that compares to you know, surveys that
you've done with office workers. Yeah, let's take a step back for a moment. There is really unprecedented stress in the system when we think broadly about business markets right now, and nearly every single business is facing kind of the same challenge, and it's how do they continue to drive business results and serve their customers but at the same
time balance that with employee well being and growth. And I think that's really what stuck out to us is that as we look at this group of folks and all sorts of different types of roles, it's the people who couldn't go home. They have done so much to keep business running, but in many ways they are feeling
a bit great about the edges. So, for instance, if we hit some of the data just right out of the gate here um to weather the storm, it looks like these frontline workers have really turned to each other. We learned that seventy six feel very bonded to coworkers because of the shared stresses that they've endured during the pandemic. But at the same time, they're starting to feel a bit of a distance between the work they're doing and
the rest of their company. Six of frontline workers say that leadership doesn't seem to prioritize culture, and communication isn't reaching them, and so they're kind of feeling a little bit like they're on an island right now. And it's not so surprising to know that they were kind of bonding together, but that feeling that they're kind of off on their own. We think that's something for business leaders to take, no doubt. Well, it's so important to and
you remind us and you you kicked it off. But the global workforce, that's our frontline workers. So we're talking about those that are working at supermarkets. Obviously, healthcare. But so many of those individuals who kept so much going for all of us, especially at the height of the pandemic, here are you know, other peaks um but kept things going because they had to and they couldn't do their jobs at home. That's right. There are two billion, more
than two billion frontline workers worldwide. They really do form the backbone of economies and just about every country. And for this particular survey, Carol, we went out across frontline workers and eat industries and across eight countries. So our definition was you had to be doing all your work in person. It's a very broad definition, as you indicated, included healthcare workers on the way to grocery store clerks, included people for instance, who are on the front lines,
and the manufacturing facility all across that. And we're just trying to get a sense for you know, what's going on and what are they experiencing. And Jared, you mentioned that it feels like they're experiencing this growing gap between the workers who are bonding with each other and actual management. At six two say their company doesn't prioritize culture. I mean, is management aware of that? Well, that's the thing we
do think that managers are very aware. I mean, we have a lot of empathy for what's happening here, because that's the balance that companies are needing to kind of strike. They have to continue to serve their customers, so they recognize that that's a pleasant demand on them, and at the same time now they have to kind of balance the well being and the learning and growth of these employees. So we it's a hard it's a hard task to
be very clear on. What we found is if you look at the center, kind of let's call it, the corporate managers, they very much understand that there's an issue, but I don't think that they've always had a great deal of visibility into exactly what's happening. One really interesting difference between this and the i W the information worker
research that we did previously. We found that these frontline employees and their direct managers, who also tend to be frontline employee, so someone for instance, in the store managing with them, that they are very close. In fact, there's a lot of closeness there, and those frontline managers really understand the issues. Hey listen, just got about forty seconds
and we'll come back and chat some more. Jarry, But I mean what surprised you most and kind of doing this survey and you and I have talked certainly around the you know, on air about the I T workers. What was the thing that was really just stood out for you in the difference? Well, here, I think one of the things that surprised me the most, that happens to play into what we do, is that that these frontline workers say that technology can make a really big difference.
There's been a lot of discussions about what whether technology is good or bad for the frontline. We found that a lot of them said they think that it could make a huge difference in how they do their work. Hey, what are the things in the report you do tackle our supply chains and there's a lot of those frontline workers who were survey they feel that more could be done to help those issues. Talk to us a little bit more about the findings there, Jared, Yeah, you bet.
If we take a step back for a moment, just to get a sense, you know, put put ourselves in the shoes of frontline worker, of folks who are non management positions don't even feel valued as employees right now, and that's just a game terrible they're having it's tough. And then as we move to the point that you were just making about supply chain issues of them say that they still feel like more could be done. So there's just you know, there's a lot of stress in
the system. Again, there's a lot that can be done. We think it's a really important time, but I think knowing what's going on is the half the battle. You know, it gets a start on the right foot. Hey, Jared, how do we make this better? Because before you before the break rather you said that technology can really make a difference. Here, walk us through that and how how does Microsoft play a role in that? That's um well, we have coming out of the report. We have three
different recommendations. The first is to prioritize culture and communication. The second is to really focus in on those frontline managers we mentioned a few months a few minutes ago, and then this last night of technology. We were really hardened to see the technology rank very high on the list of things that could have six frontline workers were excited about job opportunities that tech creates, and technology ranked third on a list of things that they say can
reduce stress. It was behind more pan vacation, not surprising, but it was ahead of mental health and well being benefits. So there's this really great opportunity we think we have if we'll take a moment, recognize what's going on, really lean into these frontline workers with a lot of empathy and understand how we can help them and use technology to implement our plans. So that's kind of one of
the big findings coming out of the study. Jared. One of the conversations you guys are having at Microsoft that you just talked about technology, and I do think about there might be certain parts of our world. Despite it feels like tech is everywhere and has evaded kind of everything that we do and in many ways made it easier more functional. Um, but I do wonder about these
frontline workers, whether it's supermarket workers, healthcare. Increasingly we see a lot more technology continuing to go into that area. You know, have there been things that you guys say, well, wait a minute, here we are Microsoft, here's what we can do specifically to kind of change how these workers work and improve the situation. The whole idea behind technology in a case like this is to empower the individual,
and that's really what we're all about. What we want to do is to give them the information, to give them the decision making authority to help them do their jobs. That are everybody feels good when they can do a good job. And again, if we look at what the data says, a third of these frontline workers say that they just don't have the right technology to do their jobs.
So simple examples can help. As a simple example of some of the things that we've introduced include a lockie talkie function that is a part of what we call Microsoft Teams Now. That's an app that you can run on your mobile device if you're a frontline worker and you know, maybe in a retail store, you have seen that before, where someone is able to tap a button on the headset and talk to all of their colleagues
around a store to ask questions. That may seem like a simple thing, but that communication goes a long way. We also have done some really great work and what we call shift integration. This allows you to use technology to coordinate when you're just gonna work, when is your shift, and if you have problems with that shift, can you actually switch it with someone else so that you can work Wednesday evening and they can work Wednesday morning. For you.
So those types of things seem small again because the information work the population, A lot of what's happened is their world that's been digitized. As we digitize what's happening, what's front my workers, we just bring an incredible amount of empowerment to them. And Jared, what are the hurdles when it comes to adoptions? I mean, how much training do some of these these programs and these apps require. Well, the idea is to make it so the technology requires
little to no training. And this comes from the fact that we can see in everyday life, in our consumer lives, the technology we use often is so easy that it's it's just something we pick up. However, we do hear from front my workers that they've been given technology that either isn't simple enough or where they definitely need training and they don't get it. Over half say that they've
had to learn this new technology without formal training. So one of the other implications of the study is as we do all of these things, make all these changes, including introduced technology, we really need to rethink skilling and learning on the job. We think that the way to go is what we call just in time skilling, where right at the moment when you need it. You get the training in small sized pieces as opposed to some big, long training course you have to take. Jared, just got
about thirty seconds here, forty seconds left here. I do think about our Bloomberg audience. I'm always thinking about an investment perspective in terms of anything and everything we do or how it impacts our economic growth going forward. Just your final thoughts maybe with that in mind. And again,
just got about thirty forty seconds. You know, a strong front mine means a better bottom line for every company, and so we actually think, though these numbers look bleak on the surface, that it's an opportunity for real leaders to stand up within their industries and companies lean into this create an awesome environment for front line workers. And again we think that's going to translate into the bottom line.
All right. Always good to get time with you. Jared's Pittaro, corporate vice president, over at Microsoft three sixty five on the phone from Redmond, Washington. Jared, by the way, we'll be participating in our work Shifting event that's coming up on March nine. For more information about it, each check out Bloomberg Live dot com. Because a lot going on here in our third year of the pandemic. Katie, that's the one thing I just can't get my head around.
I know, I know, and I think about, like the last time I went to the movie theater I left the country. It's been a while, Carol, Yeah, exactly, even just you know, feeling comfortable going out for dinner.