Microsoft recently published the results of an employee remote work study.
Putting aside the skewed sample, the headline finding was: average length of workweek has increased 10% during pandemic.
For all the love remote working has been getting in the last 18 months, this is a pretty scary stat! And the immediate next question is: why?
“The increase in workweek hours could be an indication that employees were less productive and required more time to complete their work, or that they replaced some of their commuting time with work time; however, as we are able to measure only the time between the first and last work activity in a day, it could also be that the same amount of working time is spread across a greater share of the calendar day due to breaks or interruptions for non-work activities.”
Reflecting on my own experience, I’m working later now compared to when I was in the office. I’ve also found the lack of separation between “work time” and “home time” to be challenging (my cycle home from work used to help me decompress and work through any remaining problems from the day. I don’t get that now).
I’m not aware of any global studies that are similar Microsofts’, but I’m willing to bet many of those working from home will be able to relate to the Microsoft findings.
What’s been your experience?