Forget clocking out at five—Microsoft says the boundaries of the traditional workday have vanished, with workers now so tethered to their jobs they're experiencing the "infinite workday," reports Quartz. In a report released Tuesday that analyzes data from its 365 suite (specifically "trillions of globally aggregated and anonymized Microsoft 365 productivity signals"), Microsoft lists stats to back up its assertion:
- 40% of workers who are online at 6am are looking at their email, and 29% of employees dive into their inbox again by 10pm.
- On average, workers using 365 send or receive 50 Teams messages outside of normal work hours daily.
- Evening meetings held after 8pm are up 16% year over year, and one in five employees works over the weekend.
- On average, workers get 117 emails and 153 Teams messages per workday.
- Beware the CC: Mass emails sent to 20+ recipients have jumped 7% in the past year, while one-on-one threads are down 5%.
- If Tuesdays feel particularly draining, this data point may back that up: Tuesdays are the heaviest with meetings (23%), while Fridays drop to 16%.
Microsoft's conclusion: "The modern workday for many has no clear start or finish. As business demands grow more complex and expectations continue to rise, time once reserved for focus or recovery may now be spent catching up, prepping, and chasing clarity. It's the professional equivalent of needing to assemble a bike before every ride. Too much energy is spent organizing chaos before meaningful work can begin." (This content was created with the help of AI. Read our AI policy.)
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