Since its inauguration in October 2016, employees at the US IT giant’s subsidiary, Microsoft Deutschland’s new head office in Schwabing, north of Munich, can now get to work when they want and where they want, both outside and inside the ultramodern seven storey premises. Symbolic of the digital world of work Microsoft’s German head office is presented on a new federal ‘experimental forums’ internet platform which concentrates on developing innovative ways of work organization in this new digital age and that was inaugurated on 14 June by the Minister for Employment and Social Affairs, Andrea Nahles (c.f. article 10262). Markus Köhler, Senior Director Human Resources and Microsoft Deutschland board member discussed and assessed the setting up of the ‘Smart Workspace’ with Planet Labor including aspects of the close collaboration with the WC.
Existing flexibility already significant. So what do the jobs of tomorrow actually look like? Where is the line between work and leisure? Can employees come and go as they please? Will we even need offices in the future? These aren’t new questions for the German subsidiary of one of the global giants in the world of digital transformation. Very fast out of the starting gate Microsoft Deutschland quickly sought to analyze the impact of digitalization on the world of work by providing its employees flexible work models early. In 1998 Microsoft signed a company agreement with the WC that introduced ‘working time based on trust’.
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