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Frontline workers excited about opportunities tech creates

woman working as a cashier

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

A new report released by Microsoft this week shows that tech tools ranked third on the list of factors that could help reduce frontline worker stress, behind pay and paid time off, but ahead of wellbeing benefits. No less than 63% are excited about the job opportunities tech creates. Almost half – 46% – fear job loss if they don’t adapt to new tech, and 55% have had to learn new tech with no formal training.

The Work Trend Index Special Report on Frontline Workers includes a global survey conducted in October/November 2021 of 9,600 frontline workers across 8 countries in 8 industries who are unable to work remotely.

The 2 billion frontline workers worldwide represent 80% of the global workforce, with 88% of organisations employing people in frontline roles. Increasingly, companies are investing in digital tools for frontline workers to modernise workflows, enhance job performance, and improve workplace culture and communication. 

Microsoft says it has seen 400% growth in monthly active usage of its Teams collaboration platform among frontline workers since March 2020. Now, it is introducing new joint offerings with industry partners as well as capabilities specifically designed to support frontline workers in Teams and Viva, Microsoft’s employee experience platform introduced in early 2021.

The Work Trend Index report reveals key insights that impact nearly every segment of the workforce:

Microsoft provided the following information on new offerings:

“It’s no secret that the pandemic is reshaping work for all workers, and at a faster pace than we have ever seen,” said Emma Williams, corporate vice president of Microsoft. “Empowering frontline workers remains essential for digital transformation. Together with our partners, we’re equipping frontline workers with tools that allow them to stay connected with their team and company leadership while concentrating on the customer or job at hand.  If done well, we believe technology can modernise workflows and enhance job performance while also improving workplace culture and communication.”

In addition, Microsoft Cloud for Retail will be generally available on 1 February. 

Says Microsoft: “Microsoft Cloud for Retail accelerates business growth by providing trusted retail industry solutions that integrate with retailers’ existing systems. It starts by unifying disparate data sources across the end-to-end shopper journey, allowing retailers to maximise the value of their data, resulting in one holistic view of the consumer. 

“Once connected, data and AI help retailers better understand and elevate the consumer shopping experience. In providing more relevant and streamlined experiences throughout the retail value chain, retailers can build a real-time sustainable supply chain. The solution also includes the Teams and Viva capabilities announced today, all working toward empowering store associates.”

* For more information, visit the Official Microsoft BlogMicrosoft 365 Blog and the new Work Trend Index report.

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