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India Today
7 days ago
- Business
- India Today
Why more Americans are logging in before 6 am, and not logging off
The boundaries of the traditional American workday are fast eroding. What once started with a morning commute and ended with an evening sign-off has now stretched into an unbroken cycle of pings, calls, and logins at all hours. Microsoft's latest Work Trend Index paints a clear picture of a growing problem: the 'infinite workday.'According to the report, 40% of US employees start their workday digitally before 6 am Meanwhile, 29% of workers log back in after 10 pmadvertisementThroughout the day, the average employee handles over 117 emails and 150 Microsoft Teams messages. For many, the workday begins before sunrise and continues well into the night, with little time to fully ONLINE: THE PRESSURE TO STAY VISIBLEMicrosoft calls it the 'infinite workday', and the data shows it is not just a buzzword. With remote and hybrid work models becoming the norm, the lines between professional and personal life are increasingly meetings, for instance, have jumped by 16% in the last year. Work, once confined to office hours, now follows workers into their homes, mealtimes, and even of the key reasons behind this shift is the culture of constant availability. With employees working from different locations and time zones, the pressure to always be online has feel the need to respond early, stay active late, and remain visible throughout the day. This digital presence, though, comes at a findings reveal that workers are being interrupted every 1.75 minutes on average. That adds up to 275 distractions a day. These frequent interruptions reduce focus and fragment attention, hurting overall meeting culture isn't helping either: 57% of meetings are unscheduled or impromptu, and 10% are added with less than an hour's take place during peak productivity hours, further straining technology has enabled remote work, it has also contributed to overload. Tools meant to improve efficiency now often demand constant THE WORKDAY: TECH ISN'T THE ONLY ANSWERMicrosoft suggests that artificial intelligence, such as its Copilot tool, may help reduce administrative work by summarising meetings or drafting it also warns that without changes to how work is structured, AI could worsen the chaos rather than resolve fix the problem, experts suggest a shift in how work is designed. That includes setting clear work hours, protecting uninterrupted time for focused tasks, and moving toward outcome-based performance rather than constant are being encouraged to set the tone by logging off after hours and supporting message is clear: the tools alone won't fix the problem. Rethinking work from the top down is now essential to prevent burnout and bring back balance to the American workday.- EndsMust Watch
Time of India
21-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
40% of American employees login before 6 AM: Why work-life boundaries no longer exist in the US
40% of American employees login before 6 AM: Microsoft report reveals. The American workday has quietly stretched into something unrecognizable. What once had a clear beginning and end has now morphed into a 24/7 cycle of logins, pings, and late-night meetings. According to Microsoft's latest Work Trend Index , a staggering 40% of employees in the U.S. begin their digital workday before 6 a.m. It doesn't stop there—29% log back in after 10 p.m., and the average worker fields over 117 emails and 150 Teams messages daily. This isn't just a shift in schedule—it's a breakdown in boundaries. As hybrid and remote models dominate, work has become omnipresent, creeping into mornings, evenings, and weekends. Microsoft calls it the "infinite workday," and it's not just a catchy phrase—it's a reflection of how fragmented, chaotic, and exhausting the modern workplace has become. The workday that never ends For today's American worker, the day no longer starts with a commute or ends with a log-off. It begins the moment they pick up their phone—often before the sun rises—and stretches late into the night. What used to be an office job has now become a permanent background process, running silently but constantly. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 오스템 임플란트 받아가세요 임플란터 더 알아보기 Undo The data paints a concerning picture: a significant portion of employees now check emails before dawn, handle Teams notifications during meals, and return to unfinished tasks long after traditional hours. With evening meetings up 16% year-over-year, many are left feeling like the office has followed them home—and never leaves. Why the chaos? The causes of the infinite workday are complex—but not surprising. At the core is a culture of availability. With hybrid and remote work, employees are physically untethered from the office—but digitally always present. That sense of availability, combined with pressure to stay visible and productive, drives people to respond earlier, stay online longer, and rarely disconnect. Microsoft found workers are interrupted every 1.75 minutes, resulting in 275 distractions per day. Despite the appearance of high activity, actual productivity suffers as attention is splintered across meetings, emails, chats, and calls. Even the meeting calendar contributes to the chaos: 57% of meetings are unscheduled or ad hoc 10% are added with less than one hour's notice Most occur during natural productivity windows, hijacking the day's most valuable mental space Instead of creating clarity, the digital tools meant to streamline work have overloaded it—fueling constant responsiveness, fragmented focus, and ultimately, burnout. Rethinking work at the core While Microsoft suggests that AI tools—like Copilot—could be part of the solution by handling routine admin, summarizing meetings, or drafting responses, it's clear that technology alone won't fix a broken system. Even Microsoft warns: if work isn't restructured, AI will simply accelerate the chaos rather than resolve it. To reclaim the workday, organizations need to move beyond tools and commit to intentional work design. This includes: Re-establishing boundaries: Define clear start and end times for work, and normalize not being 'always available.' Protecting focus time: Reduce impromptu meetings and preserve blocks of time for deep, uninterrupted work. Redefining productivity: Shift away from activity metrics (emails sent, meetings attended) and toward outcome-based measures. Embracing asynchronous work: Encourage communication that doesn't require immediate responses, easing pressure on employees to be constantly 'on.' Most importantly, leadership must model these changes. When leaders normalize digital disconnection, decline unnecessary meetings, and champion flexibility, they send a powerful message: balance is not just allowed—it's expected. Is your child ready for the careers of tomorrow? Enroll now and take advantage of our early bird offer! Spaces are limited.
CNBC
20-06-2025
- Business
- CNBC
Workers are stuck in an 'infinite workday,' according to Microsoft report: 'People are feeling very burnt out'
If you've ever complained that the modern workday is unending, you may be right. According to a new report from Microsoft, employees are now experiencing an "infinite workday" of constant emails, meetings and notifications. They check their emails as early as 6 a.m., juggle meetings through the afternoon and then stay online well into the night. Simply put, "it's a very long day," says Alexia Cambon, senior research director at Microsoft. Beyond the extended hours, workers are beset with notifications. According to Microsoft's data, employees are interrupted every two minutes by meetings, emails or messages, and receive an average of 117 emails and 153 Teams messages each workday. As a result, people are feeling overwhelmed: 48% of employees and 52% of leaders reported that work feels "chaotic and fragmented" in Microsoft's Work Trend Index survey, and 80% of global workers said they lack sufficient time and energy to do their work. "We know from survey data that people are feeling very burnt out," Cambon says. "The multiplication, the intensity and the length of the workday is really creating a lot of friction for a lot of employees." According to Cambon, part of the root cause of the infinite workday is that work models haven't evolved with the times. Take meetings, for example: "It used to be that a meeting was the only way for us to really exchange information and progress items forward," Cambon says. Now, workers can easily connect asynchronously, but synchronous meetings still take up a significant part of the workday. Nearly a third of meetings take place across multiple time zones, and meetings that take place after 8 p.m. have increased by 16% year over year. "I think we're working with a lot of outdated modes," Cambon says. Additionally, technology has given us near-constant virtual access to each other, making it difficult to truly detach from work. On average, workers send or receive over 50 messages outside of "core business hours." Cambon says that the remote work boom caused by the pandemic "erased some of the boundaries between work and life." "All of the signals that we usually relied on to tell us when to begin work and when to end work were no longer there," she says. Because of all these competing demands on our attention, Cambon says, "we really can't spend our precious time and energy – which are very finite resources – on the things that matter." Based on Microsoft's data, Cambon predicts that workplaces will mitigate these issues by shifting certain responsibilities from human employees to AI agents. "By deploying AI and agents to streamline low-value tasks — status meetings, routine reports, admin churn — leaders can reclaim time for what moves the business: deep work, fast decisions and focused execution," the Microsoft report says. Microsoft has invested heavily in artificial intelligence. Cambon echoes the sentiment: "A lot of the work that we are doing now, a lot of the pain that we are feeling, we will pass on to agents." In the meantime, she emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries and making time for human connection to avoid burnout. Taking breaks and chatting with colleagues "is actually essential to work – it's not separate from it," Cambon says.
Miami Herald
18-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Microsoft is planning a harsh message for loyal employees
Last year was a bloodbath when it came to layoffs from big tech companies, and so far, 2025 isn't faring much better. The big message this year is that artificial intelligence will replace countless jobs across many key sectors, especially white-collar jobs. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Amazon CEO Andy Jassy confirmed this on June 18, saying that as the company rolls out more generative AI and agents, it should "change the way our work is done." "We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs," he said. "It's hard to know exactly where this nets out over time, but in the next few years, we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company." Related: Disney makes a devastating layoff announcement Amazon is not the only big tech company to announce that layoffs are on the way. Meta did the same on February 10, eliminating 5% of staff based on performance. Google made a similar move on June 10, but instead offered buyouts to employees across many of its teams, including Communications, Marketing, Research, Core, and Knowledge & Information. Now Microsoft is next, and if what's suggested comes to pass, it will be the tech company's third round of cuts this year. Image source: Fruchtman/Getty Images Sales is the next section of Microsoft to be gutted, as the tech company plans to slash thousands of jobs, according to new reporting from Bloomberg. The cuts will be formalized in early July, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity, and will also affect employees outside of sales teams. The timing of the cuts could also change, the source told Bloomberg. If executed, this will be Microsoft's fourth round of layoffs in 2025. The first came in early January, when Microsoft cut less than 1% of its total employees, affecting less than 2,300 roles. These layoffs were attributed to performance-related issues. Related: Google delivers a harsh message to loyal employees Round two came four months later in May, when the company announced a larger global workforce reduction. This time, 3% of employees were affected globally, or 6,000 people, with a heavy emphasis on software developers. Then in early June, Microsoft made another snip to Redmond, Wash., headquarters staff as part of its ongoing restructuring plan. Microsoft said earlier in the year that it would invest $80 billion in AI-related infrastructure to build AI-enabled data centers, which will be used both to train AI models and to deploy cloud and AI-based applications. While Microsoft has not publicly stated that it intends to replace human jobs with AI, some reports say that terminated employees were tasked to use AI tools or had AI in their job titles. In Microsoft's annual Work Trend Index report released in April, the company said that one in three business leaders say that they are considering layoffs as a result of AI deployment in their companies. In other words, they may not have said it directly, but one might reasonably assume what's coming next. Related: Procter & Gamble sends stern warning to employees as sales slip The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
The Independent
17-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Working late? You're not the only one, research shows
New research shows employees are working late into the evening hours as they catch up on meetings and emails. Microsoft has released its 2025 Work Trend Index Annual Report, and the results paint a startling picture of a work culture that has shifted away from the traditional 9-to-5 job. The triple peak day, a trend among remote workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, has become the norm for many, according to Microsoft, despite many workers returning to in-office work. Microsoft researchers began using the term to describe a shift in productivity during the pandemic. Usually, there are two productivity peaks in a workday, before and after lunch, but now there is a third peak in the evening hours. The new data collected by Microsoft showed meetings after 8 p.m. are up 16 percent from last year. This increase is primarily due to 'global and flexible teams,' Microsoft said in a release detailing this data. Ravi Desai of California manages a global customer success team for a software company. He told The Wall Street Journal, 'There is a tendency to be generally connected all the time.' Additionally, the average worker sends or receives more than 50 messages outside of normal business hours. By 10 p.m., 29 percent of workers go back to check their inboxes. And it's not just employees' evenings that are being eaten away. They are also losing time on their off days. Almost 20 percent of employees working on the weekend are checking their inboxes before noon on Saturday and Sunday, Microsoft researchers found. After 6 p.m. on Sundays, more than 5 percent of workers check their emails again. 'The Sunday scaries are real and measurable,' Microsoft said. Microsoft's study also found the average worker receives 117 emails daily and 153 Teams messages per workday. Dan Quitério's workload increased at his former social media-marketing job in New York after his department leader left the company and wasn't replaced. He told the Journal, 'There were definitely situations where I, just as a single human being, couldn't do all the things.'
