WEBVTT - Microsoft 365 Corp. VP on American Workforce

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<v Speaker 1>You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer on

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Radio. Yeah, this is Bloomberg Business Week on this Monday,

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<v Speaker 1>Carol Messer and our Bloomberg Interactive Broker's Studio on Monday, December.

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<v Speaker 1>So we talked about the commercial real estate market earlier.

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<v Speaker 1>We're all really trying to assess what will be the

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<v Speaker 1>longer lasting impact of the pandemic on that market, and

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<v Speaker 1>just like we're watching the trends created by the pandemic

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<v Speaker 1>on how we work and on American workers overall. And

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<v Speaker 1>on that point, I recently hosted a panel on the

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<v Speaker 1>pulse of the American work in the future of work.

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<v Speaker 1>Really digging into that. On that panel was jared' Spataro,

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<v Speaker 1>corporate vice president of Microsoft three five. He had so

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<v Speaker 1>many great statistics and findings that he and his team

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<v Speaker 1>had pulled together and he shared with us, So I

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<v Speaker 1>knew we had to do a little bit more. Jared

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<v Speaker 1>joins us on this Monday on the phone in Seattle, Washington. Jared,

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<v Speaker 1>it is so nice to have you here. How are you.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm doing great, Carol, Thanks for having me. Really looking

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<v Speaker 1>forward to our conversation. Me too, because I was blown away.

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<v Speaker 1>I know you guys are doing really digging deep into

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<v Speaker 1>cut up finding out how we are we're working right now,

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<v Speaker 1>and then you know, kind of making some conclusions off

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<v Speaker 1>of that. So it is about a month since we

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<v Speaker 1>last talked on that panel, how are things going for

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<v Speaker 1>you and your team? And the longer this goes on,

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<v Speaker 1>what are you finding in terms of those that are

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<v Speaker 1>working on Microsoft platforms how they are working now? You're

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<v Speaker 1>bet you know, since we've spoken, we continued to see

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<v Speaker 1>a surge of COVID and that's changed the outside environment

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<v Speaker 1>quite a bit. Um We have really tried, as I

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<v Speaker 1>indicated them, to just be students of the moment and

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<v Speaker 1>try and take in data from as many sources as

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<v Speaker 1>we can and then piece together a mosaic a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit of what's going on and where do we think

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<v Speaker 1>it'll it'll go. Some of the numbers for me are

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<v Speaker 1>really pretty astounding. I'll give you a couple thinking of

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<v Speaker 1>one of our products called Microsoft Teams. This is a

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<v Speaker 1>product that brings together, for instance, meetings and chat and

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<v Speaker 1>team workspaces. Teams users have had more meetings and calls

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<v Speaker 1>per week now than they did pre pandemic. In addition,

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<v Speaker 1>the work they span and teams, so that's the time

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<v Speaker 1>between the first and the last active log in is

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<v Speaker 1>up by an hour in many countries in the world.

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<v Speaker 1>In some countries like Australian Singapore, it's up by over

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<v Speaker 1>two hours. And then that's even bleeding over into the weekends.

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<v Speaker 1>Teams chats on the weekend have spike since before the pandemic,

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<v Speaker 1>So there's a lot going on. I think workers all

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<v Speaker 1>across the world are really feeling the stresses of this

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<v Speaker 1>remote work and kind of trying to adapt. So none

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<v Speaker 1>of that's really changed. I mean, those trend lines have

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<v Speaker 1>stayed pretty consistent. They have. Um, we saw some countries

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<v Speaker 1>starting to add back, as an example of university states

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<v Speaker 1>in Western Europe, there was this hope that we could

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<v Speaker 1>kind of get back. But during the spikes that we

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<v Speaker 1>have seen in both places here in the winter, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>we've just continued to see people, you know, moving backwards

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<v Speaker 1>kind of in their progression, deciding we need to stay

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<v Speaker 1>remote for a while. So those trends just continue for us.

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<v Speaker 1>I wonder, and I don't know if you guys are

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<v Speaker 1>measuring this, measuring this, so forgive me if I'm going

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<v Speaker 1>to no place that you guys aren't. But I wonder

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<v Speaker 1>about productivity because there is such a debate are about

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<v Speaker 1>you know, people working from home? Are they as productive?

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<v Speaker 1>I mean I felt like I was really productive of

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<v Speaker 1>at home, and there were certain areas that I never

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<v Speaker 1>were able to really make inroads on that I did

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<v Speaker 1>at home, and vice verse. So I just wonder what

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<v Speaker 1>people are seeing. You know. There was a really good

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<v Speaker 1>article in the Well Street Journal today that I picked

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<v Speaker 1>up on, and I thought one of the conclusions there

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<v Speaker 1>is worth repeating. Maybe it says that the research essentially says,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, productivity for a lot of people is up

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<v Speaker 1>for all the reasons that you say it, but it's

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<v Speaker 1>coming at a cost. Again to data points that give

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<v Speaker 1>us some sense. When we recently went out and around

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<v Speaker 1>the world pulled workers just across different countries, we found

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<v Speaker 1>that over thirty percent of workers, and that was in

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<v Speaker 1>a pool of six thousand people we as so thirty

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<v Speaker 1>percent of them said that the pandemic can increase their

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<v Speaker 1>sense of burnout at work. Imagine that almost a third

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<v Speaker 1>of people saying I feel more burned out, and then

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<v Speaker 1>a third of remote workers say that the lack of

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<v Speaker 1>separation between work and life. So roughly about the same

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<v Speaker 1>as negatively impacting what they would call their well being

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<v Speaker 1>just overall. So I think productivity is up for many

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<v Speaker 1>for many companies, many firms, but there is a cost

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<v Speaker 1>associated with it. Well, and I wonder, you know, you

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<v Speaker 1>guys talk this stuff, how much of it do you think? It?

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<v Speaker 1>Was interesting? I was just talking with Ken Swig Swig Equities,

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<v Speaker 1>who is very involved in the commercial real estate market

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<v Speaker 1>UM in New York and elsewhere on the country, and

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<v Speaker 1>just this whole concept of working from home, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>how much of it sticks ultimately going forward? And I'm

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<v Speaker 1>just curious. Microsoft is a company right that has said,

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<v Speaker 1>you guys want to work from home, you can continue

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<v Speaker 1>doing that, you know after the pandemic. How much of

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<v Speaker 1>some of the trends that we're seeing, uh, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>after hours weekend, how much of it do you think

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<v Speaker 1>ultimately sticks. We'll take a step back for a second.

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<v Speaker 1>I think I would frame it this way. Um, when

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<v Speaker 1>we look at what people are learning during this pandemic,

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<v Speaker 1>they are learning that in many instances, they can use

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<v Speaker 1>digital connections to more easily, more conveniently connect with other

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<v Speaker 1>people when they previously had relied on physically being present.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, right with someone. And so then if we

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<v Speaker 1>kind of translate that into what are they saying about

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<v Speaker 1>work post pandemic, we found that um, excuse me, managers

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<v Speaker 1>expect to have more flexible work from home policies post pandemic.

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<v Speaker 1>So overcent of managers saying, yeah, we expect that we

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<v Speaker 1>will give people the option to work from home. Seven

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<v Speaker 1>one percent of employees want to continue to work from

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<v Speaker 1>home at least part time, and part time in many

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<v Speaker 1>ways as we're seeing the data come in is at

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<v Speaker 1>least two days a week. So that's a pretty big

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<v Speaker 1>change from pre pandemic. I think almost everyone felt like

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<v Speaker 1>they needed to show up at work. If you imagine

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<v Speaker 1>your workforce where just across the week people who choose

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<v Speaker 1>two of those days not to be there. We think

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<v Speaker 1>even if just that sticks, it will dramatically change in

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<v Speaker 1>the dynamic of how people are getting their work done

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<v Speaker 1>and when you guys are checking out, you know, when

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<v Speaker 1>people you're doing your research and gathering the data. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean you're talking about employees companies from all different types

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<v Speaker 1>of industries, correct, that's correct. Yeah, we go across all

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<v Speaker 1>different types of industries and we try to be broad based.

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<v Speaker 1>At one survey I decided the moment to go, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>with six thousand workers across the world, so across different nations,

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<v Speaker 1>in all different industries, so we're not just looking at

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<v Speaker 1>one We're trying to get a really nice broadly segment

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<v Speaker 1>size so that we can make sure we see the

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<v Speaker 1>trend well. And I wonder if you and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>give me some insight into you know, with the promise

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<v Speaker 1>of a vaccine. Here we are on a day where

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<v Speaker 1>we've seen the first you know, vaccine happened in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States, so we are seeing it's certainly a different

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<v Speaker 1>narrative when it comes to a vaccine specifically and maybe

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<v Speaker 1>getting some control of the virus, you know, with that

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<v Speaker 1>promise of a vaccine here and on the horizon for

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<v Speaker 1>for most workers, how quickly do you think we see

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<v Speaker 1>employees kind of you know, get workers back in the

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<v Speaker 1>office and just got about forty seconds and then we'll

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<v Speaker 1>take a break and come back and do some more. Sure,

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<v Speaker 1>we we think that it's going to take time for

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<v Speaker 1>the vaccine to roll out, and so we'll see that

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<v Speaker 1>kind of rollout over time. We love the fact that

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<v Speaker 1>we're seeing the vaccine go to those that need it most.

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<v Speaker 1>Perhaps healthcare workers and others. So we think that you

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<v Speaker 1>look at one and it won't be all of a sudden.

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<v Speaker 1>We think that there will be a long time being

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<v Speaker 1>in this hybrid state. And is that similar to what

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<v Speaker 1>you guys are doing internally as well? Just got forgive

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<v Speaker 1>me saved another thirty seconds here. Well, we haven't quite

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<v Speaker 1>made the decisions are announced exactly what we're doing internally,

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<v Speaker 1>but our announcement has been that people won't have to

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<v Speaker 1>come back to work, but we won't even be opened

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<v Speaker 1>back to work until the summer, so July is what

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<v Speaker 1>we've talked about this year. We're hearing a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>that too here on the East coast, Jared. One of

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<v Speaker 1>the stats when we did the panel together that stuck

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<v Speaker 1>out for me is you guys, actually are there some

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<v Speaker 1>research and I think you guys were involved in it

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<v Speaker 1>or let it on brain waves and what happens when

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<v Speaker 1>we're in a video meeting. Can you share some of

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<v Speaker 1>that with our audience? You bet. I think all of

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<v Speaker 1>us who have been involved in kind of these virtual

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<v Speaker 1>meetings have helped a sense of fatigue, and so we

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<v Speaker 1>were pretty curious about that early on, wondering you know,

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<v Speaker 1>was it was it just made up or were we

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<v Speaker 1>actually feeling something. So we went into the lab and

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<v Speaker 1>actually put these sensors on people, allowed them to both

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<v Speaker 1>interact in person and interact in virtual meetings. What we

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<v Speaker 1>found wasn't surprising if you were in online meetings, but

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<v Speaker 1>there was science now behind it. It turns out that

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<v Speaker 1>these online meetings really do tax our brain more. They

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<v Speaker 1>make it more difficult for us to concentrate, They make

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<v Speaker 1>it more difficult for us to stay in the meetings

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<v Speaker 1>and be productive, So that was really interesting. From there,

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<v Speaker 1>we decided that we they're probably some innovation that was

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<v Speaker 1>going to be necessary, and so we did create some

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<v Speaker 1>kind of product features that were meant to address that

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<v Speaker 1>in teams. Well, that n fun is fascinating. Look, listen,

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<v Speaker 1>crisis leads us to different ways of doing things. And

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<v Speaker 1>I think this whole rise and all the stuff that

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<v Speaker 1>we've been able to do socially virtually is pretty impressive

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<v Speaker 1>and the work that we've been able to get done.

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<v Speaker 1>But you know, what, do you feel like you are

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<v Speaker 1>learning about how people work and how we can maybe

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<v Speaker 1>do it better so that it's not so taxing. Because

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<v Speaker 1>I know when we were on the panel together, part

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<v Speaker 1>of What we also talked about was the burnout that

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<v Speaker 1>you've mentioned previously, and just making sure that our mental

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<v Speaker 1>wellness was taken care of in this environment where we

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<v Speaker 1>were connected to technology mostly not really too people. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>that's right. Well, that the things we found that are

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<v Speaker 1>making a big difference um consists somewhat of technology and

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<v Speaker 1>somewhat of just us learning new ways of doing things.

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<v Speaker 1>So let me tell you one that was surprising to me.

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<v Speaker 1>One of the pieces of research that we did that

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<v Speaker 1>now has made its way into the product is the

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<v Speaker 1>idea of virtual commute. Awesome, not to be able to

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<v Speaker 1>not to have to jump into a car and or

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<v Speaker 1>a subway and commute into work, But what we found

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<v Speaker 1>was that people were having a really high hard time

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<v Speaker 1>creating boundaries between their work and life. And so we've

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<v Speaker 1>actually introduced a bot into the team's environment that allows

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<v Speaker 1>people to kind of ramp up into their work day,

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<v Speaker 1>have just a little bit of a buffer, and then

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<v Speaker 1>to ramp down out of the work day to really

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<v Speaker 1>process what happened. As funny as it may sound, that

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<v Speaker 1>makes a huge difference. We actually found that that the

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<v Speaker 1>people in our research said that they felt like it

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<v Speaker 1>impacted their productivity in really positive ways, and so we've

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<v Speaker 1>introduced that into the product. We've also done some really

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<v Speaker 1>interesting things that I wouldn't have guessed made a difference.

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<v Speaker 1>Going back to the idea of the brain wave study,

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<v Speaker 1>we found that one of the things that was happening

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<v Speaker 1>is that we stare at each other in this Brady

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<v Speaker 1>bunch few oftentimes of just everybody together. We see our

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<v Speaker 1>backgrounds and that makes it hard for each of those

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<v Speaker 1>different squares that it's hard for our brains to parse

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<v Speaker 1>out kind of the social cues were used to seeing

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<v Speaker 1>the nodding, turning away, the yawning, and so we found

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<v Speaker 1>it by using a check knowledgy, we could cut people

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<v Speaker 1>out of their backgrounds, put them into a shared background,

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<v Speaker 1>and the brain actually reacts remarkably well. Of that, we

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<v Speaker 1>feel more connected number one and number two, the amount

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<v Speaker 1>of effort required to read those cues goes down. And

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<v Speaker 1>so again that's that's an application of technology that we

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<v Speaker 1>think is pretty novel. So there are these types of

0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:19.800
<v Speaker 1>things that can really help us, and we'll make a

0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:22.360
<v Speaker 1>difference a little longer. Yeah, that's really fascinating, right, and

0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:24.720
<v Speaker 1>you do wonder you know, we know, listen, we've been

0:10:24.720 --> 0:10:26.959
<v Speaker 1>so critical of our kids sitting in front of screens, right,

0:10:27.040 --> 0:10:29.200
<v Speaker 1>and you know that there is an impact of that.

0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:31.679
<v Speaker 1>And yet here we have been doing it now for

0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:34.280
<v Speaker 1>you know, nine months and counting, and and there is

0:10:34.320 --> 0:10:36.680
<v Speaker 1>an impact. And so we can figure out ways to

0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:40.120
<v Speaker 1>do it where it's healthier and better. Um, that's the

0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:43.040
<v Speaker 1>way to go. Indeed, you know, the the other thing

0:10:43.080 --> 0:10:45.760
<v Speaker 1>I'll note is, in some ways, when you have a hammer,

0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:47.560
<v Speaker 1>everything looks like a nail. And I think that's what

0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.280
<v Speaker 1>happened in this pandemic. You know, we couldn't walk down

0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:51.839
<v Speaker 1>the hall and see each other, and so all of

0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:53.640
<v Speaker 1>a sudden, man our only way to get in touch

0:10:53.760 --> 0:10:56.199
<v Speaker 1>was to start up an online meeting. And we are

0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:58.840
<v Speaker 1>finding that increasingly people are learning, gosh, I don't have

0:10:58.840 --> 0:11:00.520
<v Speaker 1>to do everything and a meeting. And fact, we talk

0:11:00.559 --> 0:11:03.000
<v Speaker 1>about the flow of work contains meetings. You know, as

0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:04.840
<v Speaker 1>you get things done, you certainly want to meet together

0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:07.400
<v Speaker 1>and do things. But increasingly people are getting back to

0:11:07.400 --> 0:11:09.520
<v Speaker 1>a little bit more normalized flow where sometimes they work

0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:11.800
<v Speaker 1>on their own, sometimes in small groups. Sometimes it's just

0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:14.760
<v Speaker 1>a chat, sometimes a voice call, sometimes a full fledged meeting,

0:11:15.040 --> 0:11:18.880
<v Speaker 1>but varying kind of the mode that you're working really

0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:21.520
<v Speaker 1>makes a difference in your ability to also concentrate and

0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:23.040
<v Speaker 1>to get that work. I love that you said that,

0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:24.520
<v Speaker 1>because I've done that to a couple of people now

0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:27.440
<v Speaker 1>and then just said, you know, we can just talk

0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:30.680
<v Speaker 1>on the phone. We'll be good. We'll be good exactly. Hey, listen,

0:11:30.760 --> 0:11:32.680
<v Speaker 1>one of the things that's so important of the work

0:11:32.679 --> 0:11:34.680
<v Speaker 1>that you're doing is that you know, we have talked

0:11:34.720 --> 0:11:38.000
<v Speaker 1>about this a lot, that the pandemic has really uh

0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:41.359
<v Speaker 1>laid bare once again so many inequities in our society,

0:11:41.480 --> 0:11:43.760
<v Speaker 1>and that includes the skills gap. And I do think

0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:47.200
<v Speaker 1>how are you guys thinking about that um in terms

0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:51.040
<v Speaker 1>of trying to maybe act as a community, the tech community,

0:11:51.200 --> 0:11:53.360
<v Speaker 1>you know, working to make sure that people aren't once

0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.720
<v Speaker 1>again left behind. Here. Well, let's take a look at

0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:59.080
<v Speaker 1>the numbers, because I think they again give us the backdrop.

0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:01.679
<v Speaker 1>According to our calcul relations, we think global unemployment in

0:12:02.080 --> 0:12:04.160
<v Speaker 1>this year before we finish over the next few weeks

0:12:04.160 --> 0:12:06.439
<v Speaker 1>may reach a quarter of a billion people. So the

0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:09.000
<v Speaker 1>numbers are pretty big. At the same time, we see

0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:11.640
<v Speaker 1>opportunity because over the next five years, we estimate that

0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.199
<v Speaker 1>the global workforce will be able to produce, to create

0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:17.800
<v Speaker 1>a hundred and fifty million new tech oriented jobs. So

0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.320
<v Speaker 1>we look at that kind of tension between the two

0:12:20.640 --> 0:12:23.280
<v Speaker 1>and have looked long term at kind of what's happening

0:12:23.360 --> 0:12:25.800
<v Speaker 1>in this skills gap and what are the big trends

0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:28.440
<v Speaker 1>that we can address. We've seen three things. First, there

0:12:28.480 --> 0:12:31.360
<v Speaker 1>is a rapid emergence of AHI power technologies that are

0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:35.200
<v Speaker 1>definitely propelling a new era of technology coming into the workforce,

0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:37.439
<v Speaker 1>so you know, we feel it and the numbers bear

0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:40.960
<v Speaker 1>us out. Second, um we're increasingly seeing that people need

0:12:40.960 --> 0:12:44.520
<v Speaker 1>these technological skills, they need technology acumen to get their

0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:47.280
<v Speaker 1>work done. And then third is the real counter balancing one.

0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.240
<v Speaker 1>Even though those first two are true, we've seen employers

0:12:50.600 --> 0:12:54.600
<v Speaker 1>actually reduced their training investments over the past two decades

0:12:54.600 --> 0:12:58.600
<v Speaker 1>and employees so more need but less training happening. So

0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:00.600
<v Speaker 1>as we looked at that ten ship and kind of

0:13:00.600 --> 0:13:02.800
<v Speaker 1>have the shape of that tension. In June, we actually

0:13:02.880 --> 0:13:06.079
<v Speaker 1>launched something called the Microsoft Global Skills Initiative, and this

0:13:06.120 --> 0:13:07.920
<v Speaker 1>is where we decided that we were going to help

0:13:07.960 --> 0:13:11.640
<v Speaker 1>twenty five million people worldwide game more digital skills, particularly

0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:14.400
<v Speaker 1>in this year right and year today, we've been able

0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:16.600
<v Speaker 1>to get thirteen million learners in every US state in

0:13:16.600 --> 0:13:18.920
<v Speaker 1>two or thirty one country. So we're excited. We still

0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:20.560
<v Speaker 1>have work to do, but we're excited that we're starting

0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:22.320
<v Speaker 1>to be able to reach out right. And it's amazing

0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:24.280
<v Speaker 1>how like just all this stuff is is ramping up

0:13:24.320 --> 0:13:26.440
<v Speaker 1>and reaching out to people who really need it. Um, Jared,

0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:28.280
<v Speaker 1>I see, I knew it when we heard these statistics.

0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.240
<v Speaker 1>I knew we needed to dig even deeper. So thank

0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:32.640
<v Speaker 1>you so much for coming on and sharing that with

0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:36.320
<v Speaker 1>our audience really appreciated. Jared's Pitaro, he's corporate vice president

0:13:36.320 --> 0:13:39.319
<v Speaker 1>at Microsoft three sixty five, joining us on the phone

0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:42.040
<v Speaker 1>from Seattle, Washington. Really just digging down into the numbers

0:13:42.080 --> 0:13:44.680
<v Speaker 1>based on what they're seeing on those Microsoft platforms in

0:13:44.760 --> 0:13:47.840
<v Speaker 1>terms of how we've been working, what the impact has been,

0:13:48.000 --> 0:13:50.600
<v Speaker 1>and uh, how we can maybe learn from it, And

0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:52.760
<v Speaker 1>they certainly are in terms of some of their initiatives