Microsoft Remote Working Study- Industry

1. Microsoft Remote Working Study- Industry Ted Ladd, Senior Public Relations Manager US and Industry Public Relations Corporate Communications Microsoft Prepared by Ipsos Public Affairs March 2011

2. Table of Contents • Objectives • Methodology • Executive Summary • Key Findings – Market Level • Key Findings – Industry Level • Remote Working • Personal Technology Use • Social Network and Collaboration • Firmographics

3. Objectives The objective of the Microsoft Remote Working Study is to better understand the extent to which information workers are working remotely, as well as the behaviors and perceptions of working remotely compared to working from an office. More specifically, the objectives of the research are: • Measuring behaviors and attitudes towards working remotely; • Assessing the existence of formal policies allowing remote working; • Measuring the prevalence of technology support provided by companies to remote workers; • Measuring technology preferences and needs of information workers at home vs. in the workplace, including the selecting and purchasing of devices; • Understanding use of social media and collaboration tools for work, including the use of both public and internal social media and tools; • Providing key insights from the research results at both the market and industry level.

4. Methodology • The Microsoft Remote Working Study was conducted using an online interviewing methodology. • Interviews were collected from February 27 to March 10, 2011. • The study was conducted among 4,523 information workers across the U.S. with a particular focus on 15 greater metro areas – Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. Chicago, IL Boston, MA Detroit, MI • With a sample size of n=4,523, results are accurate to +/- 1.46% when tested at the 95% confidence interval. • The survey • averaged approximately 12 minutes in length. New York, NY Minneapolis, MN Seattle, WA Philadelphia, PA Denver, CO Los Angeles, CA San Francisco, CA Washington, D.C. Phoenix, AZ Atlanta, GA Dallas (Throughout report some single response questions may not equal 100% due to rounding.) Houston, TX

5. Executive Summary • The majority of information workers surveyed nationwide (57%) say their company has a formal policy allowing employees to work remotely. • Among the 15 markets surveyed, the proportion of information workers reporting a formal policy allowing employees to work remotely varies from 64% in Dallas and Seattle to around 50% in Los Angeles and Detroit. • Nearly two-thirds of information workers in financial services (64%) say their company has a remote working policy, more than in manufacturing (58%), professional services (55%) or retail/hospitality (45%). • On average, information workers nationwide say they work remotely only about half as many days as they would prefer. • Nationally, information workers, on average, say they would prefer to work remotely almost 9 days a month, but say they actually do so only about 4 days a month. • Among the 15 markets surveyed, the number of days information workers say they work remotely varies from 4.7 days a month in Atlanta and 4.5 days a month in Phoenix, to 2.6 days a month in Detroit. • Information workers say their peers are more supportive of remote working arrangements than their bosses or managers are. • 45% of information workers nationally rate their peers as supportive of remote working arrangements (rating of 8, 9 or 10 on a 10 point scale), compared to 37% of information workers who rate their boss or manager as supportive. • Peer support for remote working varies across market from 54% giving it a high rating in Atlanta to only 37% in Chicago.

6. Executive Summary (continued) • Information workers nationwide cite a better balance between work and home priorities and eliminating a long commute as the primary reasons to work remotely. • The need to complete unfinished work is the third most common reason. • More than three quarters of information workers (77%) say their company provides access to technology support for working remotely. • Access to remote technology support varies from a high in San Francisco (81%) and Atlanta (80%), to 72% in Chicago and Los Angeles. • Information workers top two pet peeves with colleagues working remotely are inability to speak face-to-face and lack of a quick response. • Social networking tools, both public and internal, are used by a substantial portion of information workers for collaboration at work. • 43% of information workers use public social networking tools to collaborate on work with colleagues. • Even more information workers, 47%, use internal social networking tools to collaborate with colleagues, while 26% use internal social networking tools to collaborate with customers or vendors.

7. Key Findings – Market Dashboards

8. Key Findings – National Formal Policy Allowing Remote Working at Company (n=4,523) Average Days Per Month Working Remotely (includes 0) (n=4,523) Remote Working Arrangements – Boss/Peer Support (n=4,523) Tasks Unable to Perform Remotely (n=2,604) Primary Reason for Working Remotely (n=2,087) Pet Peeves of Colleagues Working Remotely (n=4,523) More than half of information workers surveyed across 15 metropolitan areas say their company has a formal policy allowing employees to work remotely. On average, information workers surveyed across 15 markets prefer to work remotely about 9 days a month, but say they do so only 4 days a month. 45% of information workers say their peers are supportive of remote working arrangements and 37% say their boss is. Information workers cite a better balance between work and home priorities as the most important reason to work remotely.

9. Key Findings – Industry Dashboards

10. Key Findings – Financial Services Formal Policy Allowing Remote Working at Company (n=1456) Average Days Per Month Working Remotely (includes 0) (n=1456) Remote Working Arrangements – Boss/Peer Support (n=1456) Pet Peeves of Colleagues Working Remotely (n=1456) Tasks Unable to Perform Remotely (n=824) Primary Reason for Working Remotely (n=689) Nearly two-thirds of information workers in financial services surveyed say their company has a formal policy allowing employees to work remotely. On average, information workers in financial services prefer to work remotely 9 days a month, but say they do so only 4 days a month. 47% of financial services workers say their peers are supportive of remote working arrangements, while 38% say their boss is. Information workers in financial services cite a better work/home balance and no commuting as the primary reasons to work remotely.

11. Key Findings – Manufacturing Formal Policy Allowing Remote Working at Company (n=1665) Average Days Per Month Working Remotely (includes 0) (n=1665) Remote Working Arrangements – Boss/Peer Support (n=1665) Pet Peeves of Colleagues Working Remotely (n=1665) Tasks Unable to Perform Remotely (n=1041) Primary Reason for Working Remotely (n=824) Nearly three in five information workers surveyed in manufacturing say their company has a formal policy allowing employees to work remotely. On average, information workers in manufacturing prefer to work remotely 8 days a month, but say they do so only 4 days a month. 46% of information workers in the manufacturing sector say their peers are supportive of remote working, while 39% say their boss is. Information workers in manufacturing cite a better balance of work/home priorities and no commuting as the primary reasons to work remotely.

12. Key Findings – Retail/Hospitality Formal Policy Allowing Remote Working at Company (n=609) Average Days Per Month Working Remotely (includes 0) (n=609) Remote Working Arrangements – Boss/Peer Support (n=609) Pet Peeves of Colleagues Working Remotely (n=609) Tasks Unable to Perform Remotely (n=293) Primary Reason for Working Remotely (n=228) Less than half of information workers in retail and hospitality surveyed say their company has a formal policy allowing employees to work remotely. On average, information workers in retail prefer to work remotely 8 days a month, but say they do so only 3 days a month. 38% of information workers in the retail sector say their peers are supportive of remote working arrangements, while 30% say their boss is. Retail workers cite a better balance of work/home priorities and need to complete unfinished work as the main reasons to work remotely.

13. Key Findings – Professional Services Formal Policy Allowing Remote Working at Company (n=337) Average Days Per Month Working Remotely (includes 0) (n=337) Remote Working Arrangements – Boss/Peer Support (n=337) Primary Reason for Working Remotely (n=169) Pet Peeves of Colleagues Working Remotely (n=337) Tasks Unable to Perform Remotely (n=216) More than half of information workers in professional services surveyed say their company has a formal policy allowing employees to work remotely. On average, professional services workers prefer to work remotely 8 days a month, but say they do so only about 4 days a month. 48% of information workers in the professional services sector say their peers are supportive of remote working arrangements, while 40% say their boss is. Information workers in professional services cite a better work/home balance and no commuting as the primary reasons to work remotely.

14. Detailed Findings – Remote Working

15. Formal Policy Allowing Remote Working at Company – By Industry BCDE CE A C A ABDE ABCD C A Nearly two-thirds of information workers surveyed in financial services say their company has a formal policy allowing employees to work remotely, significantly more than in manufacturing, professional services or retail/hospitality. Q1. Does your company have a formal policy allowing employees to work remotely (from home or away from the office)?

16. Average Days Per Month Working Remotely – By Industry C Across industries, there is little difference in the average number of days information workers say they work remotely, ranging from slightly over 3 days a months in retail/hospitality to 4 days a month in manufacturing. Q7. On average, how many days each month would you prefer to work remotely? Q8. On average, how many days each month do you work remotely? (Mean score, includes 0)

17. Preference for Working Remotely – By Industry ABD Information workers across key industries hold similar levels of preference for working remotely on a regular basis. Q6. Using the scale below, how strongly would you prefer to work remotely on a regular basis?

18. Remote Working Arrangements – Boss Support (By Industry) C CE C ABD BD Managerial support for remote working arrangements is most widespread in professional services, manufacturing and financial services than in retail/hospitality. Q11. On a scale of 1-10, how supportive is your boss or manager of remote working arrangements?

19. Remote Working Arrangements – Peers Support (By Industry) C CE C ABDE BD Peer support for remote working arrangements is more prevalent in professional services, manufacturing and financial services than in retail/hospitality. Q12. On a scale of 1-10, how supportive are your peers and colleagues of remote working arrangements?

20. Company Provides Tech Support for Remote Working – By Industry CE CE CE BD ABDE ABD AB Four in five information workers in financial services, manufacturing and professional services say their company provides technology support for working remotely, compared to only two in three in retail/hospitality. Q4. Does your company provide technology support, like set-up or troubleshooting, for working remotely?

21. Primary Reason for Working Remotely – By Industry Information workers across key industries cite a better balance between work and home priorities, eliminating a long commute, and completing unfinished work as the primary reasons to work remotely. Information workers in retail/hospitality mention being more productive while working remotely than in the office. Q9. Which of the following would you say is the most important reason you work remotely?

22. Primary Reason for Working Remotely – By Industry Information workers across key industries cite commuting issues, a better balance between work and home priorities, and completing unfinished work as the primary reasons to work remotely. Information workers in retail/hospitality mention being more productive while working remotely than in the office. Q9. Which of the following would you say is the most important reason you work remotely?

23. Pet Peeves of Colleagues Working Remotely – By Industry Information workers across key industries top pet peeves with colleagues working remotely are the inability to speak face-to-face and lack of quick response. Q15. Which of the following do you consider pet peeves when working with someone who is working remotely?

24. Productivity When Working Remotely – By Industry ABD C C More than 7 in 10 information workers in retail/hospitality rate themselves as productive (rating of 8, 9 or 10) when working remotely, more so than in manufacturing, financial services and professional services. Q10. On a scale of 1-10, how productive are you when you are working remotely?

25. Tasks Unable to Perform Remotely – By Industry Information workers across key industries are most unable to make phone calls from their computer and participate in video conferences while working remotely. Q5. Which of the following activities are you unable to do when working remotely?

26. Personal Technology Use

27. Technology Purchases – Company vs. Personal (National) Nationally, a majority of information workers say their company provides devices such as PC accessories, laptops, landlines and desktops. Smartphones and mobiles phones are the devices most likely to be selected and purchased for work by respondents (not by their companies). Q2. Which of the following devices does your company provide versus you selecting and purchasing to use for work?

28. Work Use of Personal Technology Devices – By Industry Across all key industries, laptops, desktops and BlackBerrys are the personal technology devices most commonly used by information workers. Windows-based smartphone use is greater among information workers in manufacturing, retail/hospitality and professionals services than in financial services. Q3. Which of the following personal technology devices do you use for work related purposes, if any?

29. Separate Smartphones – Work vs. Personal Use (By Industry) B D D A ABE CD One-third of information workers in financial services and retail/hospitality maintain separate smartphones for work and personal use, slightly higher proportions than in manufacturing and professional services. Q13. Do you use separate smartphones for work and personal/social reasons?

30. Reasons for Separate Smartphones – By Market Across key industries, the choice to keep work and personal information separate is the most popular reason information workers say they maintain separate smartphones. A company policy to use a specific smartphone for work is more common among information workers in financial services than among other key industries. Q14. Which of the following, if any, are reasons why you use two different smartphones?

31. Social Networking and Collaboration

32. Public Social Networking and Collaboration – By Industry A BD A BCD Across industries, use of public social networking tools to collaborate with colleagues is more common with information workers in professional services, retail/hospitality and manufacturing than it is in financial services. Q17. Do you use public social networking tools, like instant messaging (IM), Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter to work with colleagues or partners?

33. Internal Social Networking and Collaboration – By Industry AE B B D D Companies with access to internal social networking tools allowing collaboration with colleagues is more common in manufacturing than it is in other key industries. Q18. Does your company have any internal social networks, sites or online tools to allow you to collaborate with colleagues or co-workers?

34. Internal Social Networking and Collaboration with Vendors – By Industry AB A A BCDE A One-third of information workers in retail/hospitality say their company has internal social networking tools to collaborate with customers and vendors, more than in professional services, manufacturing and financial services. Q19. Does your company have any internal social networks, sites or online tools to allow you to collaborate with customers or vendors?

35. Reprimanded or Terminated for Social Media Use – By Industry BDE BDE C C D A ABC C 27% of information workers in retail/hospitality say they know someone from their organization who has been reprimanded or terminated for misuse of social media, more than in other key industries. Q21. Do you know if anyone from your organization has been reprimanded or terminated for misuse of social media tools?

36. Preferred Collaboration Tool – By Industry Email is the preferred collaboration tool among information workers across key industries. Q22_2. [Prefer Most] Which of the following do you prefer for collaborating with co-workers, and which one do you prefer most?

37. Unique Locations for Business Calls – By Industry Roughly half of information workers across key industries say they’ve conducted a business call or meeting while driving. Q16. Have you ever conducted a business call or meeting while... ?