- Microsoft Report warns about “the infinite work day” that crawls
- The workers are put online before and end later than ever
- They are also being interrupted by an email or a chat message every few minutes.
New research by Microsoft has revealed that many of us are struggling to maintain a healthy balance between work and life, and that an overload of tasks could be what prevents us from achieving any type of productivity.
The Special Report of the June 2025 work trend index of the company warned of “Infinite Work Day” that says it is a “significant change” in the hours we work, largely thanks to the influence of hybrid workplaces, and, of course, AI.
The report, based on “billion” of productivity signals, such as emails, chat messages and meetings gathered in Microsoft 365, warns that modern work day no longer has a clear start or end, and has urged a greater adoption of AI tools to help reduce this load for daily workers.
Working … 6am until 8 pm? What a way to make a living
“Our research, based on billion productivity signals of Microsoft 365 added and globally anonymized, reveals a new challenging obstacle: a seemingly infinite work day,” Microsoft said.
“The AI offers an exit to the mud, especially if combined with a reinvented work rhythm. Otherwise, we run the risk of using AI to accelerate a broken system.”
Microsoft said it found an important increase in online users at 6 am, when 40% of users are apparently scanning through their entrance tray to prioritize tasks for the day.
At 8 in the morning, the chat of the Microsoft teams has overcome email, with half of all the meetings that are held between 9–11 am and 1–3pm, in particular, the moment when most of us are the most centered and productive throughout the day.
It was discovered that Tuesdays were the busiest for meetings, with 23%, while Fridays have only 16% of all meetings. In a way, Microsoft discovered that meetings are held after 8 pm, have increased 16% year after year, which shows that late finals are also becoming worryingly normal.
The use of weekend email also saw an important increase, with almost 20% of employees reviewing their email before noon on Saturdays and Sundays, and more than 5% return to work in emails on Sunday nights.
The report found that the average worker receives 117 emails and 153 equipment messages daily, which means that they are interrupted by an email, chat or meetings every 2 minutes. Now it was also discovered that most employees would send or received more than 50 chats outside their main business schedule, risking their liquidation time.
“This points to a bigger truth: the modern working day for many does not have a clear start or finish,” Microsoft concluded. “As commercial demands become more complex and expectations continue to increase, the time once reserved for the approach or recovery can now be spent updating, preparing and pursuing clarity.”
“The signals are clear: it is time to break the cycle. The future of work will not be defined by the amount of heavy work we automate, but from what we choose to reinvent fundamentally. IA can give us the influence to redesign the work rate, to forward our teams in the new and differentiating work and set what has become a seemingly infinite work day.
