Pinoy workers most avid users of productivity tools–Microsoft study

FILIPINO employees, in flexible and highly digitized workplaces, are among the most avid users of productivity tools in Asia Pacific, according to Microsoft Corp.

The company’s “New World of Work Study for Enterprises” pointed to Filipinos as being “more sophisticated in their approach in increasing productivity at work through online services.”

The Philippines gained the third-highest score among 12 markets that Microsoft included in its study. Based on responses from 400 respondents from the Philippines surveyed in September, the Philippines garnered a score of 59 over 100 in Microsoft’s “New World of Work” (NWoW) index. The NWoW, according to Microsoft, tracks how employees in key Asia-Pacific markets rate themselves on three factors: flexibility of workplace and schedule; ability to be productive given the flexibility at work; and how technologically savvy their environment is.

According to a statement, the Philippines score reflects a prevalent perception among Filipino workers that their work environment is not just flexible but supports the productivity of its employees by making the necessary technology available to them.

“Globalization and technology innovations have brought the world closer, fundamentally changing the way people live and work,” Microsoft Philippines Inc. COO Cian O’Neill was quoted in a statement as saying.

O’Neill explained the company commissioned the study to understand how work and life have changed for employees in Asia Pacific and determine how much they are supported by their employers to succeed.

More than the self-perception rating, Microsoft tracked how many productivity tools are being used by these employees, he said.

The poll bared that 75 percent of the Filipino respondents use at least four to five online services to carry out their work like e-mail, social media, collaboration, virtual meetings and using cloud-based file-sharing services.

The study revealed the level of usage in the Philippines was higher than the Asia-Pacific level of 71 percent.

The most avid users of productivity tools are employees in India, with 94 percent of respondents saying they use at least four to five online tools.

When ranked, the top 5 online services used by Filipino employees for work are: e-mail (89 percent), social tools (79 percent), document collaboration tools (74 percent), virtual meeting tools (70 percent) and file-sharing services (70 percent).

Results of the study was bared during the local launch of Microsoft Office 2016. The other markets in the study were Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.