A recent survey from Microsoft found that business leaders are doing quite well for themselves over the course of the pandemic, but their employees much less so. The report, based on a poll of 30,000 people in 31 countries, finds that business leaders are reporting building stronger relationships with colleagues, earning higher incomes, developing leadership skills and taking all or more of their allotted vacation days. Overall, 61 percent of bunsiness leaders say they are thriving now, 23 percent higher than what workers reported.

In contrast to their thriving bosses, 20 percent of workers said their employer does not care about their work-life balance, 54 percent reported feeling overworked and 39 percent said they were exhausted. Microsoft said its own data bears this out. Looking at analytics from its Teams product, the company said, compared with the start of the pandemic, weekly meeting times have grown by 148 percent, the number of emails sent has increased by 40 billion, chat time is 45 percent higher, and the number of people working on Office documents has increased by 66 percent. Reports are the most dire among young workers: 60 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 25 say they are merely surviving or flat-out struggling right now.

This is perhaps why 41 percent of the global workforce said they are likely to consider loeaving their current employer within the next year, with 46 percent planning to make a major pivot or career transition. Microsoft said these workers are looking to take advantage of growing telecommuting opportunities.

The results call to mind an earlier survey which revealed a similar disconect between the boss and workers. A pair of PwC report from last year found that 64 percent of CFOs are "very confident" that their firms can provide a safe working environment for employees. This is likely because the vast majority plan to implement additional safety measures to account for the virus. Seventy-three percent plan to reconfigure work sites to promote social distancing; 58 percent are planning to alter shifts to reduce possible exposure; and 43 percent plan to make remote work a permanent option for those whose positions allow it. Hazard pay, however, is unlikely. as only 9 percent plan to offer it for those working in affected areas.

In contrast, another PwC survey found workers to be a little less confident. Among those who were forced to stop working or work remotely, 70 percent said something would stop them from returning to work if their companies called them back. A majority of them (51 percent) said they're afraid they'll get sick. Meanwhile, 24 percent said they won't come in because they don't want to take public transportation to work, 21 percent said they have responsibilities as parents or caregivers that would prevent them from coming back, and 15 percent said they had to take care of sick family members.

Both studies echo a wealth of research indicating that being powerful warps your perceptions, especially with regard to other people. One study, from 2005, found that as one's power increases in a social network, the less understanding one has of what is happening within one's social network; conversely, the lower one is in power, the more accurate one's assessments will be. Another study, from 2003 said those in power are more likely to perceive positive events (that their partner liked them) than negative ones (that their partner is angry with them). Most of these effects were mediated by the sense of power, suggesting that subjective feelings of power are an important component in the effects of power.

Part of why this might be is that those in power are more used to thinking in terms of their own perspective versus others. A 2006 study found that when asked to draw the letter E on one's forehead, those who had previously been randomly assigned to a high power group were almost three times more likely to draw a self-oriented E (one that looks fine in a mirror but is backwards to an observer) than those who were assigned to the low power condition. Another study from 2013, based on a review of other literature, concluded that power creates both temporary and enduring cognitive changes that transform the way individuals assimilate and differentiate their self from others. This transforms the way individuals in power behave as leaders, as well as followers.

Another issue is that leaders may not know what's really going on because the workers are afraid to tell them even when explicitly invited to share comments. A pair of researchers from Cornell University and the University of Texas who have conducted a series of studies from 2011 to 2013 into this question say that the reason rests on two factors: futility and fear, according to the Harvard Business Review. In short, while the top brass might say they encourage people on all rungs of the corporate hierarchy to make their voices heard, workers simply don't believe them. Even if explicitly told that negative feedback won't draw retaliation, workers still believe they will be targeted for it if they criticize the leadership, and even if they weren't, they don't think their comments will have much impact anyway. And so, even if invited to do so by their superiors, employees are unlikely to speak freely, even on important company matters.