New Microsoft research reveals how much UK workers hate the office

The Visitor’s Center at Microsoft Headquarters campus is pictured July 17, 2014 in Redmond, Washington.
The Visitor’s Center at Microsoft Headquarters campus is pictured July 17, 2014 in Redmond, Washington. (Image credit: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images for Microsoft)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft and YouGov have new workforce-related research results to share.
  • The research analyzes trends in hybrid work and employee perceptions about remote versus on-site employment.
  • The research found that if UK workers got hybrid options taken away, 51% would consider quitting their job.

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.

Robert Carnevale

Robert Carnevale is the News Editor for Windows Central. He's a big fan of Kinect (it lives on in his heart), Sonic the Hedgehog, and the legendary intersection of those two titans, Sonic Free Riders. He is the author of Cold War 2395. Have a useful tip? Send it to robert.carnevale@futurenet.com.