The rise of the evening meeting: ‘The infinite workday'
Workers are struggling to cope with a 'seemingly infinite workday ', involving an increasing load of meetings scheduled at 8pm or later and a near-constant stream of interruptions, according to new research by Microsoft.
The company analysed data from users of Microsoft 365 services — which include Outlook and PowerPoint — globally between mid-January and mid-February.
It found that the number of meetings booked between 8pm and just before midnight had risen 16 per cent compared with last year.
Geographically dispersed teams, as well as those with flexible working arrangements, were responsible for much of that increase.
'The infinite workday… starts early, mostly in email, and quickly swells to a focus-sapping flood of messages, meetings, and interruptions,' Microsoft said in a report on Tuesday.
The company found that the average worker is interrupted every two minutes by a meeting, an email or a chat notification during a standard eight-hour shift — adding up to 275 times a day.
And those messages don't stop after they've clocked off. During the study period, the average employee sent or received 58 instant messages outside their core working hours — a jump of 15 per cent from last year.
The typical worker also receives 117 emails per day and, by 10pm, almost one-third of employees are back in their inboxes, 'pointing to a steady rise in after-hours activity'.
'The modern workday for many has no clear start or finish,' Microsoft said.
'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 organising chaos before meaningful work can begin.'
'Impossible to keep up'
One outcome is that one-third of workers feel it has been 'impossible to keep up' with the pace of work over the past five years, according to a Microsoft-commissioned survey of 31,000 employees around the world, cited in its new report.
'Each email or message notification may seem small, but together they can set a frenetic tempo for the day ahead,' the company said.
Half of all meetings take place between 9–11am and 1–3pm, Microsoft also found, 'precisely when, as research shows, many people have a natural productivity spike in their day, due to their circadian rhythms'.
Ultimately, Microsoft said, meeting-hungry bosses and colleagues sap workers' productivity, with some time-starved employees forced to catch up at the weekend.
'Instead of deep work… prime hours are spent cycling through a carousel of calls,' the company said.
Artificial intelligence could help lighten the load for workers, according to Microsoft. The technology can help carry out 'low-value' administrative tasks, it said, freeing up time for people to work on what truly benefits the organisation.
However, the rise of AI has fuelled anxiety about the technology's potential to oust human workers from their jobs. According to a survey by the World Economic Forum, published in January, 41 per cent of employers intend to downsize their workforce as AI automates certain tasks.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
15 hours ago
- ABC News
AI threatens entry-level jobs as university grads struggle to get hired
Australian workers are facing a major upheaval as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes a cheaper alternative to employing humans. While the full impact of AI is yet to be reflected in job ads or official employment statistics, both employers and employees warn the technology is already reshaping the nation's labour market. It took recent data science graduate Tien Hung Nguyen 30 applications and an internship to land his first full-time job. "I feel privileged to have secured this position. I'm going to give everything I've got," he says. Most of his friends are still looking for work — and he says artificial intelligence is a big reason why. "Since AI appeared, for example, a team might have needed three or four juniors and a senior. Now, it's one junior and AI," Mr Nguyen explains. In countries where AI is more advanced, such as the United States, lay-offs are speeding up. Amazon is the latest big employer to warn of looming job losses. There are also reports Microsoft is shaping up to clean out more staff whose tasks can be completed by AI. There are also worrying signs for young workers in the US, as the unemployment rate for recent college graduates nears 6 per cent. In Australia, the unemployment rate is holding steady at 4.1 per cent. However, the jobless rate for young people — which is typically higher than the overall rate — has risen slightly to 9.2 per cent. Economist Leonora Risse says youth unemployment is a key indicator. "Young people tend to be the group that experience the greatest volatility in the labour market," she warns. Mr Nguyen now works at an AI start-up, where much of the low-level admin work has already been handed over to machines. His employer, Julian Fayed, says the shift is accelerating. "Our technology is advancing, and our AI implementations are advancing at a rate that means that our headcount isn't really growing anymore," he says. "A lot of the lower-level tasks our team didn't enjoy doing, AI can now do 24 hours a day, seven days a week. "No sick days. That's the slightly dark joke." Beyond small tech start-ups, some of the country's biggest employers are also preparing for a leaner future. Telstra CEO Vicky Brady has been up-front at several public events about how advances in AI will result in job cuts. "We know that work is going to look very different in 2030 — and so will we," Ms Brady told a recent investor briefing. CBA boss Matt Comyn made similar comments when he appeared at the Australian Financial Review's AI summit in Sydney this month. "It's hard to make predictions," Mr Comyn said. "But I think in some areas, it's reasonable to say the workforce will be smaller." Dario Amodei — CEO of US-based AI company Anthropic — has warned that up to 50 per cent of entry-level white-collar jobs could disappear within five years. Aaron Matrljan from recruitment agency Aura agrees junior positions will be among the first to go. "Things that we would get juniors to be trained on — that would usually be a learning exercise for them — can now be done so much more cheaply and effectively by AI in a matter of seconds," he explains. Mr Matrljan says his professional services clients are all talking about AI. Mr Matrljan expects to see job cuts because of AI becoming more common within the next two years, and believes slower economic conditions will only speed up the take-up of technology. "The next intake of graduates is going to be really interesting, and firms are going to have to work out where they're gaining those efficiencies, where they're gaining the cost savings, and how many grads do we need, how many trainees do we need to do the tasks that AI can do now so much quicker." Businesses that don't adopt AI risk being left behind, particularly as the technology promises major productivity gains. The optimistic view of AI is that the technology won't replace human workers but instead allow them to take on higher-level tasks. "Productivity is about shifting our time away from the lowest value activities and the lowest value tasks that can be done by automation or AI or computers, and reallocating our time towards the most valuable uses, the most purposeful and meaningful uses," Dr Risse argues. Dr Risse said AI can be of huge benefit to workers if the transition is managed equitably. "If you have higher labour productivity, you have a case for a higher wage," she explains. Some jobs will inevitably be replaced by AI, particularly routine roles that are easier to automate because they follow predictable, repetitive patterns. The reality is, as Dr Risse says, some workers will need to find new jobs in new industries. "The care and community sector is growing, particularly as a result of the aging nation. We need humans. We need people in those sectors," she argues. "But for some people in areas like banking or finance, that can feel like a big leap." As AI advances, the question is no longer if it will dramatically change the workforce, but how quickly, and whether Australia's job market can adapt in time. Mr Fayed believes there'll always be white-collar jobs for the right candidate. However, landing a position is likely to become more competitive. His advice to students is blunt. "For anyone thinking about what to study — you absolutely should be considering whether your future role is at risk from AI," Mr Fayed said. "I do think this is going to be very, very disruptive." There's also a risk for companies that cut too deep — they could lose the pipeline of workers who would eventually move into mid-level and senior roles. "Firms are going to have to … work out where they're gaining those efficiencies, where they're gaining the cost savings … how many grads do we need, how many trainees do we need to do the tasks that AI can do now so much quicker," Mr Matrljan says. "What that's going lead to is the next two to four years it's going be really interesting to see, because there's not as many juniors coming through the ranks … have we lost a lot of knowledge at that level?"
7NEWS
3 days ago
- 7NEWS
The rise of the evening meeting: ‘The infinite workday'
Workers are struggling to cope with a 'seemingly infinite workday ', involving an increasing load of meetings scheduled at 8pm or later and a near-constant stream of interruptions, according to new research by Microsoft. The company analysed data from users of Microsoft 365 services — which include Outlook and PowerPoint — globally between mid-January and mid-February. It found that the number of meetings booked between 8pm and just before midnight had risen 16 per cent compared with last year. Geographically dispersed teams, as well as those with flexible working arrangements, were responsible for much of that increase. 'The infinite workday… starts early, mostly in email, and quickly swells to a focus-sapping flood of messages, meetings, and interruptions,' Microsoft said in a report on Tuesday. The company found that the average worker is interrupted every two minutes by a meeting, an email or a chat notification during a standard eight-hour shift — adding up to 275 times a day. And those messages don't stop after they've clocked off. During the study period, the average employee sent or received 58 instant messages outside their core working hours — a jump of 15 per cent from last year. The typical worker also receives 117 emails per day and, by 10pm, almost one-third of employees are back in their inboxes, 'pointing to a steady rise in after-hours activity'. 'The modern workday for many has no clear start or finish,' Microsoft said. '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 organising chaos before meaningful work can begin.' 'Impossible to keep up' One outcome is that one-third of workers feel it has been 'impossible to keep up' with the pace of work over the past five years, according to a Microsoft-commissioned survey of 31,000 employees around the world, cited in its new report. 'Each email or message notification may seem small, but together they can set a frenetic tempo for the day ahead,' the company said. Half of all meetings take place between 9–11am and 1–3pm, Microsoft also found, 'precisely when, as research shows, many people have a natural productivity spike in their day, due to their circadian rhythms'. Ultimately, Microsoft said, meeting-hungry bosses and colleagues sap workers' productivity, with some time-starved employees forced to catch up at the weekend. 'Instead of deep work… prime hours are spent cycling through a carousel of calls,' the company said. Artificial intelligence could help lighten the load for workers, according to Microsoft. The technology can help carry out 'low-value' administrative tasks, it said, freeing up time for people to work on what truly benefits the organisation. However, the rise of AI has fuelled anxiety about the technology's potential to oust human workers from their jobs. According to a survey by the World Economic Forum, published in January, 41 per cent of employers intend to downsize their workforce as AI automates certain tasks.
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Perth Now
PM urges 'free and fair trade' to US business figures
The prime minister will emphasise the importance of free and fair trade to US business leaders ahead of major talks with world powers. Anthony Albanese landed in Seattle, in the US state of Washington, on Saturday as part of a whirlwind tour that could end in a meeting with US President Donald Trump about his controversial tariffs. Washington state is home to several tech and engineering giants such as Boeing, Microsoft and Amazon, and Mr Albanese will attend the Technology and Innovation Business Reception on Saturday local time to address companies like BHP Ventures, Airwallex and Anthropic. "Free and fair trade has transformed the economies of our region," the prime minister will say in his remarks. "We should not lose sight of the profound opportunities that can be realised by closer and deeper co-operation - the businesses in this room are proof of that. "In a time of global uncertainty, all of you represent cause for optimism." The visit comes after he held security and climate talks in Fiji however, these pit stops play second fiddle to his trip's upcoming centrepiece. Seven of the world's largest advanced economies will gather in Canada from Sunday for the multi-day G7 summit. The event is often used to discuss solutions to major global issues like trade, security, economics and climate change, and in a year largely defined by trade tariffs, the topic is expected to take the spotlight. Australia is not part of the G7 but Mr Albanese has been invited, fuelling speculation he will meet President Trump on the sidelines of the event. The prime minister appears to be preparing for the possibility - his remarks reheat Labor's lines on US tariffs, emphasising Australia will engage "respectfully and constructively" in its national interest. Australia currently faces 10 per cent tariffs on goods exported to the US and - like all US trading partners except the UK - has been hit with 50 per cent tariffs on aluminium and steel sent to America. The Australian government is considering using critical minerals and US beef imports as bargaining chips in tariff talks. However, Mr Albanese has not yet confirmed whether he will sit down with Mr Trump. The prime minister has already had three discussions with the US president as his government, including Australia's ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd, have tried to negotiate a tariff exemption. Mr Albanese will also visit the Amazon corporate headquarters in Seattle to highlight the company's multi-billion-dollar investment in Australian data centres.
