- 70.8% of nightly instant answering machines were promoted in the last two years.
- Promotion is 1.3 times more likely to get instant responses than those who wait until the next morning
- Millennials reap the highest rewards for quick responses in research published by career solutions company Careerminds UK
Achieving work-life balance by disconnecting from work in the evening may be good for your peace of mind and your family life, but it could cause you to miss out on a promotion, a new report claims.
Research conducted for Careerminds UK found that responding to that late-night message from your manager before you go to bed can increase your chances of landing a desirable new role.
Their report found that 7 in 10 (70.8%) respondents who admitted to being “instant responders” got a promotion in the past two years, much more than the group who opted for a “let me live my life for a few hours” approach.
Millennial men send more messages
Elsewhere, the research is divided: Millennials are much more likely to be promoted to late-night communication than those in Generation X. This report comes just months after the British government’s plans for a “right to disconnect” were put on hold.
Careerminds research found that, essentially, “the slower the response, the lower the promotion rate.” Responding immediately to after-hours messages has a promotion rate of 70.8%; responding within an hour reduces the rate to 68.2%, while responding the next morning is 55.1%.
There is also a gender divide: 79.0% of rapid responders in the past two years were men, compared to 60.8% as women.
The generational difference is also of interest. Research shows that 86.0% of millennials with a quick response to messages outside contracted hours were promoted, compared to 47.2% of Generation X employees (ages 44 to 59). Generation Z employees earned promotions at a rate of 81.2%.
Interestingly, the rapid response effect for promotion does not appear to have any significant advantage for entry-level or director-level roles. Rather, it appears to focus on the middle of an organization’s hierarchy.
What happened to the “right to disconnect”?
Conceived as a labor reform that would feature in the British government’s Employment Rights Bill, the right to disconnect was supported by unions, employees and even business leaders. However, when the bill was announced, this key aspect was omitted and relegated to the government’s “Next Steps” document.
Unfortunately, later reports indicated that the policy would be scrapped, with a government source telling The Sunday Times that the policy was “dead”. The reasoning? Reduce economic pressure on businesses, including “unnecessary barriers”, to make “Britain the best country in the world to do business”.
For comparison, Ireland has had a similar rule for employees to ignore work messages after hours since 2021, and France introduced the right to disconnect in 2017.
With the UK set to welcome a new Prime Minister from 20 July 2026, potentially with different priorities, it remains to be seen whether the right to disconnect can be reactivated.
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