A new Google feature allows its users to automatically decline meeting invitations. This is not a strategy to chase away work tasks, nor is it a way to forget commitments. Rather, we could call it an embankment against all those activities considered ancillary and non-priority. It is called Focus Time, and it is the latest feature introduced by Mountain View for all subscribers to the premium Google Workspace service. A tool to intercept a new need of workers in the age of smart working, where technology has become the first cause of interference in people’s private lives(Linkiesta).

• Remote job ads increase 12 percent(Cnbc).
• American capitalism is changing its mind about smartworking(Washington Post).

Avatar colleagues Mountain View, however, is hardly alone. All Big Tech, writes Morning Future, is actively responding to the new needs of workers, to the point of reshaping the world of work with new proposals, ideas and initiatives. Digital giants are investing in innovation in the belief that remote work will become increasingly central, even after the pandemic. This has given rise to new software that enables group work despite physical distance. There are not only the well-known Skype, Teams, or Cisco: other ad hoc functions have been developed over the past year and a half. For example, Facebook did this before Meta launched with Horizon Workrooms, its new service for viewing the office through augmented reality viewers.

Measuring progress Then there is Microsoft, which recently purchased Ally.io, the startup that produces software designed to increase business productivity. Thanks to Ally.io, employers can keep track of progress and deliverables by coordinating entire teams scattered around the world(Cnbc). A similar deal to Microsoft was finally done by Apple with its acquisition of Fleetsmith, the startup that helps employees configure and manage devices remotely(TechCrunch).