Microshifting: New trend could bring end to eight-hour workday
Gen Z is doing it again and changing the work-game!
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous new work-related terms have emerged.
There's been quiet-quitting, Bare Minimum Mondays and other trends that have started to take over through social media and other outlets.
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Gen Z is now working against the traditional “follow the leader” workflow, where employees listen to and implement orders and instructions from higher management.
The younger generation is not too interested in holding leadership roles.
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They are also challenging the typical workday.
We've already entered the remote and hybrid era, changing where we work, so the natural next step would be how long we work.
Mental health and work-life balance have become the primary objectives, with employees increasingly focusing on structuring their work to fit their lives.
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According to Forbes, employees are moving away from organising their lives around rigid office hours, logging on early to clear emails, taking midday breaks for workouts or school pickups, and finishing projects after dinner.
This emerging trend is the next phase in the future of work: microshifting.
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The Owl Labs’ 2025 State of Hybrid Work Report (USA) found that 65% of office workers want more flexibility in their schedules.
The Deputy’s The Big Shift: U.S. 2025 survey shows that microshifting is gaining traction among Gen Z employees in service industries, who are clocking in for shorter shifts to balance multiple jobs, education and caregiving.
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Microshifting is the practice of breaking up the workday into short, flexible blocks rather than sticking to a continuous eight-hour stretch.
This is unlike traditional flexible hours, which might allow you to start later or leave earlier, and is more about working in bursts throughout the day.
These working periods are based on when employees feel most productive and when they need to tend to the demands of life.
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For knowledge workers, it's about having autonomy over their schedule, not just where they sit.
Employees in the hospitality and food service industries will opt for shorter shifts of six hours or less, allowing parents to take adequate breaks to care for their children.
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Here is why experts say 9-to-5 no longer works
Forbes explains: "The 9-to-5 workday is a relic of the Industrial Revolution, designed for factory floors whose productivity was measured by hours clocked and widgets produced. But knowledge work doesn't operate on an assembly line."
Many companies do not regard this workday as "old-fashioned" and have also doubled down on return-to-office mandates.
Owl Labs reports that 63% of employees are now in the office full-time, and the number of in-office days is increasing among hybrid workers.
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Also called the "hybrid creep", this phenomenon shows that 34% of hybrid workers go to the office four days a week, up from 23% in 2023.
Employees are the driving force for this change, and they are even willing to pay for it.
Owl Labs found that employees would sacrifice 9% of their annual salary for flexible working hours and 8% for a four-day workweek.
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We're not sure if we're willing to make those sacrifices just yet, given the global cost-of-living crisis...
While not everyone might be on the same page in that regard, it does show that flexibility has become as valuable as compensation and here are some reasons why:
- For 62% of surveyed employees caring for children at home, the rigid 9-to-5 doesn't accommodate modern life.
- 68% of parents worry that caregiving responsibilities might negatively impact their job performance.
- That anxiety is even higher among full-time in-office employees (71%) compared to remote workers (48%).
- One in five employees is poly-employed, juggling side hustles alongside their primary job.
- 59% of employees schedule personal appointments during traditional working hours, already blurring the boundaries of the workday.
Naturally, every trend or shift has its growing pains.
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What will lead to either the success or failure of microshifting is trust.
Many leaders still equate visibility with productivity, although data suggests that this is not the case.
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According to Owl Labs:
- 69% of managers believe working hybrid or remotely has made their teams more productive.
- Companies continue to invest in employee tracking software.
- Only 19% of employees say their company isn't using monitoring tools.
- 47% of employees cite surveillance as a top workplace concern.
Micorshifting could hold many benefits, including preventing employee burnout.
It all just depends on how it's done.
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