Trending Topics in the World of Work_
Our November issue of SHIFT explores a study of remote work at Microsoft, driverless trucks in response to labor shortages, emoji etiquette at work, and holiday pay increase for flight attendants to prevent operational meltdown.
Study of Microsoft employees shows how remote work puts productivity and innovation at riskA new study finds that Microsoft’s companywide shift to remote work has hurt communication and collaboration among different business groups inside the company, threatening employee productivity and long-term innovation. This one of the key findings in a peer-reviewed study of more than 61,000 Microsoft employees published by Microsoft researchers in the journal Nature Human Behaviour. |
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Driverless trucks – the way of the future?One response to the growing labor shortage in the transportation industry is the introduction of driverless trucks. According to CNBC, Walmart recently announced that it has started using fully driverless trucking in its online grocery business, aiming to improve logistics, increase capacity and reduce inefficiencies — an objective that may have other sectors such as grocery deliveries and ride-share services jumping on the driverless bandwagon. |
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Emoji etiquette at workA survey of over 1,000 U.S. employees, conducted by Fast Company, reveals the latest findings on emoji etiquette — and which emoji you should never use. To explore workplace communication, 68 sample emails were drafted and each received feedback from 200 respondents. These drafts were written for a variety of scenarios, containing different emojis, tones and characteristics. Based on how these emails ranked in terms of their different communication elements, the survey reported on perceptions of professionalism and effectiveness. |
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Staffing shortages prompt holiday pay increase for flight attendantsOther industries, such as the airlines, are taking aim at the labor shortage by offering pay premiums, a tactic that reflects the growing power of the employee in today’s market. Employers recognize that they have to take decisive measures to ensure they can hire — and retain — the workers they need to keep their businesses in operation. |
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