The average global workday contracted by 15 per cent between the first quarter of 2021 and the fourth quarter of 2023, from nine hours and 52 minutes to nine hours and five minutes, according to a new report by workforce analytics platform ActivTrak.
The report analyzed data collected through the platform between 2021 and 2023 from more than 900 global employers and more than 135,000 employees.
Read: ‘Bare minimum’ workdays helping employees relax, recharge after condensed workweek: expert
It found employees were eight minutes more efficient in the first half of 2023 compared to the second half, noting, if an organization with 1,000 employees each earning $US60,000 maintained productivity levels seen in the first half of the year, it would gain additional workload capacity of 18 full-time employees, equivalent to roughly $1.1 million.
Over the three years, a quarter (27 per cent) of workers said they were at risk of attrition due to burnout or disengagement.
In 2023, a fifth (20 per cent) of employees said they felt disengaged due to underutilization, up 67 per cent since 2021, while fewer than one in 10 (seven per cent) said they were at risk of burnout due to overutilization. Notably, just four per cent said they worked on weekends, virtually unchanged from 2022 (five per cent).
Read: Majority of employers say hybrid work is challenging confidence in employee productivity: survey