Dive Brief:
- While the average workday is about 36 minutes shorter than in recent years, it is also 2% more productive, according to a March 11 report from ActivTrak Productivity Lab. ActivTrak used anonymized user activity behavior recorded from 2022 through 2024 for its dataset, representing 218,900 employees across 777 companies.
- An average productive session increased from 20 minutes to 24 minutes, according to the report, while 70% of employees surveyed also reported healthy work patterns — the highest level in three years, ActivTrak said. Remote-only workers led the way in productivity compared to other worker types, according to the data, with productive sessions of 29 minutes or more.
- The report noted that artificial intelligence tool use corresponded with longer work days and lower focus time, but also more collaboration time and more multitasking.
Dive Insight:
Productivity remains a sticking point in discussions around returning to the office, remote work and the proliferation of AI. While a 2023 report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated that productivity fell 4% among workers who began working remotely at the start of the pandemic, ActivTrak’s report indicates a broader shift toward healthier productivity.
“The latest State of the Workplace report reveals healthier work habits on the rise driven by clearer expectations around remote work, core working hours and balanced workloads,” Gabriela Mauch, chief customer officer and head of Productivity Lab, said in a statement.
A Robert Half study from August 2024 noted that productivity had been increasing but that employees were working longer hours — which was cause for concern, a Robert Half executive said at the time. Workers in that survey said hybrid arrangements would help them feel more engaged and productive.
AI may further complicate this ongoing calculation. ActivTrak’s data indicated that AI users may be juggling increased collaboration with more frequent task-switching, leading to lower focus time and longer work days.
However, research out of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis showed that worker productivity increased by 33% for every hour they used generative AI — indicating that more research may need to be done regarding how AI shapes the way work is done.
As such, employers may need to redefine how they look at productivity in the first place, an Accenture study said; instead, employers should consider the creation of value through innovation and knowledge.