We’re excited to release the fourth annual edition of the Productivity Lab’s State of the Workplace report. With data reflecting actual employee behavior over three years across 218,900 employees from 777 customers, it is one of the most objective studies of when, where and how modern work happens. Here are a few of the key findings around shifts in productivity, engagement, location preferences and AI tool adoption:
More Productive Workdays
The average workday decreased 36 mins (7%) since 2022, with employees now ending their day at 4:39 p.m. instead of 5:21 p.m. Despite shorter days, productive time grew 2%, with the average productive session increasing by 20%.
Improved Employee Well-Being
Seventy percent of employees now maintain a healthy workload — the highest level in three years. Five-percent (5%) of employees risk burnout (down 21% since 2023), and the number of overutilized employees dropped to 8% (down 34% since 2022).
Focus Time Under Pressure
As focus time decreased, collaboration time rose by 27% and multitasking increased by 5%. Focus efficiency declined from 65% to 62%, reflecting new workplace demands.
Location Flexibility Yields Positive Results
Fifty-three percent of employees spent over 60% of 2024 working remotely. Remote-only workers demonstrated the highest productivity (+29 mins daily), while office-only workers showed the highest focus efficiency (68%).
AI Tool Adoption Accelerates
Fifty-eight percent of employees now use AI tools — a 107% increase from 2022. ChatGPT leads adoption at 27%, followed by Grammarly (11%) and Copilot (9%). AI users show longer workdays but less focus time than non-users.
Organizations that thoughtfully balance collaboration and focus, support workload balance, optimize location strategies and guide AI tool adoption will be best positioned for success in an increasingly dynamic work environment.
The report includes comprehensive analysis from across 23 industries so you can benchmark your organization against peers.
