Bosses are clueless that workers miserable and looking to leave: Survey

 A total of 46 per cent of respondents said they are planning to move to a new location this year

A Microsoft Corp survey of global workers found the majority feel they are struggling or just surviving in pandemic work conditions and a large percentage are considering leaving their employer this year. Meanwhile most business leaders polled said they are “thriving.” A total of 46 per cent of respondents said they are planning to move to a new location this year, a reflection of the greater flexibility to work from home. And 41 per cent of those surveyed said they’re mulling leaving their jobs, according to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index released Monday, which polled 30,000 people from a variety of companies in 31 countries and used trillions of data points around labour and productivity from Microsoft‘s 365 software and LinkedIn network.

The data found burnout is widespread — 54 per cent of workers said they are overworked, 39 per cent said exhausted. But the struggles of employees in the midst of the upheaval that has sent many out of their offices to work remotely are being overlooked by their managers and company leaders, who were the only group polled in which a majority said they are thriving. Gen Z workers, those 18 to 25 years old, are faring among the worst — the researchers theorise that their feelings of isolation are higher because they are more likely to be early in their careers and single. While the leaders who are doing well are mostly male, the survey found women, frontline workers and new employees also reported challenges“Leaders are out of touch,” said Microsoft Vice President Jared Spataro. “Sixty-one percent say they are thriving — that’s 23 per cent higher than the average worker, so there is a disconnect there. They’re like ‘this is great!’”