Since COVID first shut the world down, the 365 team has been particularly focused on how to help people adapt to radically new ways of working—to, as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella put it, “stay open for business in a world of remote everything.” Central to that effort, the team determined, would be to leverage the vast trove of data and insights generated by Microsoft’s legendary research group into the future of work. Microsoft hoped to provide an invaluable service in a time of great uncertainty and stand out as a rightful authority on work in a world gone truly digital. The goal was to present Microsoft as a source of valuable data and actionable insights about the future of work.

WorkLab is a digital publication that explores the science and ingenuity of work. The site launched in January 2021 with the intent to serve as a beacon of insight in a time of great uncertainty and change for a range of audiences, including employees, consumers, customers—and especially business decision makers.

Upholding the best practices of true service journalism and editorial design, WorkLab showcases the ideas and experiences of experts both inside and outside Microsoft. Most recently, it served as the launch pad for Microsoft to share its ambitious vision for the future of AI. It speaks with an optimistic, empowering voice that runs through all elements of story and design, from illustrations and data visualizations to the WorkLab podcast and overall digital experience.

Microsoft regularly conducts global surveys of tens of thousands of employees and non-employees. The company can also sift insights from billions of anonymous data points generated by users of the 365 platform, as well as data gleaned from research by its subsidiaries like LinkedIn and Glint. Microsoft surfaced the most valuable insights from this data and presented them as compelling stories with inviting graphics and accessible infographics. The company enlisted an experienced team of editors, journalists, and designers to help bring its insights to life in a new digital publication. The publication would reach an audience of executives, leaders, and journalists, and would share hard data and precious insights that would go viral.

WorkLab stories are based on Microsoft’s ongoing research into how people are adapting to new ways of working. What are best practices for hybrid meetings? How did remote work affect people’s workday schedules? How can leaders improve employee wellbeing?

Employing journalistic tools, these prompts and insights were turned into compelling stories—from longform features to quick-hit think pieces to data visualizations. Artists were commissioned to craft a distinctively bright and optimistic look for illustrations, animations, and infographics.

Microsoft also produced the WorkLab podcast, which has begun its fourth season, and used the WorkLab platform to announce its vision for the role of AI in the future of work. As the pandemic taught us, a lot of change can happen fast. WorkLab will be here for all of it.

In its first year, WorkLab received over 1 million unique visitors and spurred strong media interest. Its coinages entered the lexicon: one report introduced the term “productivity paranoia,” which was picked up by The Washington Post, Fast Company, Fortune, CNBC, Forbes, MarketWatch, Inc, and more.

Last year, Fast Company named Microsoft the No. 8 most innovative company in the world (No. 1 for data science). It cited WorkLab’s Work Trend Index as a platform whose data informs development of Microsoft’s new products and tools. Microsoft’s human, modern vision for work is a key factor contributing to its success (revenues spiked 20 percent in the quarter ending in December). As Fast Company wrote, “no company is in a better position to help take the pain out of productivity.” This year, the company was honored again for its commitment to accessibility—a commitment it spelled out in stories on WorkLab.