Global Work Trend Index Special Report Shows Average Employee Receives 117 Emails and 153 Teams Messages Daily as Traditional Work Boundaries Erode
Professionals, including Swiss workers, are experiencing an «infinite workday» with 40% checking email before 6 a.m. and meetings after 8 p.m. increasing 16% year-over-year, according to a new Microsoft Work Trend Index Special Report released today. The global study, which analyzed trillions of Microsoft 365 productivity signals, including Switzerland among the 31,000 knowledge workers across 31 markets surveyed, reveals how the traditional 9-to-5 workday has evolved into a continuous cycle of digital communication.
The average employee now receives 117 emails and 153 Teams messages daily, with Tuesday emerging as the week’s busiest day for meetings (23%). The report identifies a «triple peak» workday pattern, with nearly a third (29%) of active workers returning to their inboxes by 10 p.m. Weekend work is also on the rise, with 20% of employees actively working on weekends checking email before noon on Saturday and Sunday.
«The data confirms what many Swiss professionals already feel – the boundaries between work and personal time have become increasingly blurred,» said Marc Holitscher, National Technology Officer at Microsoft Switzerland. «What’s particularly striking is how this infinite workday creates a paradox: we have more communication tools than ever, yet 48% of employees say their work feels chaotic and fragmented. The solution isn’t working harder but fundamentally reimagining how we work. AI and intelligent agents can help us break this cycle by handling routine tasks and allowing us to focus on what truly drives business value.»
The study reveals that employees are interrupted every two minutes – 275 times per day – by meetings, emails or chat notifications. Half of all meetings occur during peak productivity hours (9-11 a.m. and 1-3 p.m.), leaving little room for deep focus work. Additionally, 57% of meetings are ad hoc calls without calendar invites, and PowerPoint edits spike 122% in the final 10 minutes before meetings.
For Swiss organizations that demonstrated strong AI adoption in Microsoft’s earlier 2025 Work Trend Index – with 52% using agents to automate business processes compared to 46% globally – this new data underscores the urgency of digital transformation. The report identifies three key strategies for breaking the infinite workday cycle:
- Follow the 80/20 rule: Focus on the 20% of work that delivers 80% of outcomes, using AI to streamline low-value tasks
- Redesign for the work chart: Move from rigid organizational structures to agile, outcome-driven teams augmented by AI
- Become an agent boss: Build human-agent teams that leverage AI for routine work while humans focus on strategy and creativity
Nearly half of employees (48%) and more than half of leaders (52%) report their work feels chaotic and fragmented. Cross-time zone collaboration adds complexity, with nearly a third of meetings now spanning multiple time zones – up 35% since 2021. Large meetings with 65+ attendees represent the fastest-growing meeting type, reflecting increasingly complex organizational structures.
The findings are particularly relevant as 80% of Swiss leaders identified 2025 as pivotal for rethinking AI strategies. With 72% planning to deploy AI agents as digital team members, addressing the infinite workday becomes critical for successful implementation.
The Work Trend Index Special Report «Breaking down the infinite workday» builds on Microsoft’s 2025 Annual Report findings. The analysis is based on aggregated and anonymized Microsoft 365 productivity signals through Feb. 15, 2025, excluding education and European Union tenants, combined with survey data from 31,000 knowledge workers across 31 markets.
You can read the original article here.
Fotocredits: (C) Microsoft
