Microsoft develops a ‘virtual commute’ for remote workers

Microsoft’s Teams collaboration software is adding the ability to schedule a ‘virtual commute’. — AFP

Millions of employees now commute from their bed to a desk at home. After the initial euphoria of skipping smog-filled traffic jams and cramped train compartments, a new reality has dawned in which the work day blends into the rest of life, like a never-ending video conference call. Microsoft Corp has a solution for this.

The company’s Teams collaboration software is adding the ability to schedule a "virtual commute”. It won’t start your car or ride the subway for you, but it will remind users about the end of the work day, suggest tasks to help workers wind down and create a little mental space before kids’ homework, dinner, laundry and other obligations come crashing in.