Ride the Lightning

Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.

Microsoft Predicts 40 Percent of Employees Might Quit Their Jobs

July 28, 2021

Law firms, like every other vertical, are reading tea leaves to figure out whether to mandate full-time return to work, permitting work from home if desired or offering some kind of hybrid model.

So it caught my attention with Silocon.co.uk published a story on July 27 noting that Microsoft is warning employers that 40 percent of people may quit their jobs this year for better work, life balance, etc.

We’re on the brink of a disruption as great as last year’s sudden shift to remote work: the move to hybrid work – a blended model where some employees return to the workplace and others continue to work from home,” Microsoft warned in its 2021 Work Trend Index.

“We’re experiencing this at Microsoft, and today we shared how we’re evolving our own hybrid work strategy for our 160,000+ employees around the world,” said the firm.

“We’re all learning as we go, but we know two things for sure: flexible work is here to stay, and the talent landscape has fundamentally shifted,” said Redmond in its Index. “

“Remote work has created new job opportunities for some, offered more family time, and provided options for whether or when to commute,” it said. “But there are also challenges ahead. Teams have become more siloed this year and digital exhaustion is a real and unsustainable threat.”

The 2021 Work Trend Index outlines findings from a study of more than 30,000 people in 31 countries and an analysis of trillions of productivity and labor signals across Microsoft 365 and LinkedIn. It also includes perspectives from experts who have spent decades studying collaboration, social capital, and space design at work.

Microsoft’s Work Trend Index also detailed seven major findings:

  1. Flexible, remote, and hybrid work arrangements aren’t going anywhere post-pandemic.
  2. Leaders are out of touch with employees and need a reality check.
  3. High productivity is masking an exhausted workforce.
  4. Gen Z is at risk and will need to be re-energized.
  5. Shrinking networks are endangering innovation.
  6. Authenticity will spur productivity and wellbeing.
  7. Talent is everywhere in a hybrid work world.

With respect to the legal industry, I buy some of this but not all of it. More and more, law firms are driven by client expectations. We have already seen Morgan Stanley telling its law firms that it wants lawyers back at work, in person meetings, etc. So, we’ll see in time what client expectations are and how much they are driving decisions about work from home and returning to the office.

In strict accordance with the Chinese curse, we do indeed live in interesting times.

Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
3975 University Drive, Suite 225|Fairfax, VA 22030
Email:  Phone: 703-359-0700
Digital Forensics/Cybersecurity/Information Technology
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