Overview

• Meetings booked between 8 p.m. and midnight rose 16% year-over-year, according to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index.
• Employees receive an average of 117 emails and 153 Teams chats daily and face interruptions every two minutes, totaling about 275 disruptions each workday.
• Instant messages outside core hours increased 15%, with the typical worker sending or receiving 58 after-hours chats during the study period.
• A third of employees still answer emails by 10 p.m. and a survey of 31,000 workers found one-third feel they cannot keep up with the pace of work.
• Microsoft says AI could automate low-value tasks to reclaim focus time, but teams must establish clear boundaries and shared norms to restore balance.