Microsoft recently analyzed their remote workers before and after the pandemic. What they found was interesting.
This graph shows that pre-pandemic there is a definitive drop in the number of instant messages sent between employees, while in recent months that seems to have leveled off.
Does this mean that Remote workers are more productive because they are not taking lunch breaks?
Not necessarily. Availability does not equal productivity. However, it is interesting that most of the pre-pandemic remote workforce took time in the middle of the day to take a lunch break while the current remote workforce does not.
Perhaps, it’s because most of the workforce at the Microsoft offices took lunch off so there was less messages sent and the people who were working remotely were always working over their lunch.
Or, maybe it’s the fact that the newly remote workforce does not break up their day like the pre-pandemic remote workforce did.
Either way, it is an interesting read and we recommend checking out the article below.
https://hbr.org/2020/07/microsoft-analyzed-data-on-its-newly-remote-workforce