Just last month, we released our 2022 Annual Work Trend Index to better understand how work has changed over the past two years. The biggest takeaway is clear: we’re not the same people that went home to work in early 2020. The collective experience of the past two years has left a lasting imprint, and there’s no going back. The data shows that flexibility and well-being are non-negotiable for employees.

As organizations and leaders navigate this new world of work in an uncertain macro-economic environment, Microsoft Research—our team of researchers, scientists, and subject matter experts around the world—continues to study how work is changing and ask big questions: why is rebuilding social capital important? What aspects of work benefit most from in-person interaction? Why will (and won’t) people come to the office? And importantly, how do we make hybrid work work?

The report Microsoft Research published on May 2, 2022, is a compilation of Microsoft and third-party research from around the globe that looks at the near-term challenges and opportunities of hybrid work and the broader societal implications.

No one can predict the future, but we will continue to be data-driven and take a learn-it-all approach, using research to fuel product innovation for customers. We believe hybrid work has the potential to unlock human potential for Microsoft and organizations around the world and create a brighter future of work for everyone.