New Offices In Africa Not A Push Back On Remote Working – Microsoft

Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Joy Chik has said the recently launched offices for its African Development Centre (ADC) in Nigeria and Kenya is not a push back on remote working.

Speaking at a press briefing during the launch of Microsoft ADC’s new office in Nairobi, Kenya yesterday, Joy said the new offices will help support the hybrid-work model that the multi-national tech company adopted in response to the Covid -19 pandemic.

“We will never go back to the old working model. The pandemic made us miss human interaction and the new offices provides an opportunity for people to meet and interact. They will also support our new hybrid work model,” she said.

Microsoft ADC Managing Director, Jack Ngare said the new facility, which is located at Dunhill Towers in Westlands, Nairobi will host 450 software engineers.

The facility will also house the Microsoft Garage which is a new entity that was launched as part of ongoing efforts to scale innovation in the tech ecosystem. According to Jack, Microsoft has embarked on a vigorous training initiative to plug the existing talent gap in the continent.

“We are going to partner with TVETs to train the next tech talent. We are also going to offer industry training to ensure that tech professionals are equipped with relevant job market skills,” he said.

Hybrid work is here to stay. The 2021 Work Trend Index that surveyed 30,000 employees across Microsoft 365 office and LinkedIn established that employees want the best of both worlds. Over 70 per cent of the workers said they want flexible remote work options to continue, while over 65 per cent are craving more in-person time with their teams.