Two recent studies found that many employees who shifted to working from home are logging longer workweeks, according to a Wisconsin State Journal report. A Nature Human Behavior study found that remote workers spend 10% longer logged in each week, which equates to an additional four hours each week for a worker with a normal 40-hour workweek. The study looked at the habits of 61,182 Microsoft employees from December 2019 to June 2020 and noted the workers’ first and last work activity of the day. It found their time spent on the job increased.
Another study conducted at the end of 2020 considered remote workers in the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and Austria and found that they were spending an extra 2.5 hours each day compared to their schedules before the pandemic. Additionally, that study found that 45% of people who shifted to remote work because of the pandemic said they were working more than they were before and 75% said they were working on weekends.
