For many, work starts before sunrise and stretches late into the night, with nearly 270 notifications a day, report finds
It is 10pm in Seoul, South Korea, but Hyun Jin Lee is not heading home. The recent college graduate – an employee in the IT industry – is at a mandatory team dinner.
“I end up working late almost every day,” laughs Lee. “By the end of the day, I feel completely drained, like I’ve used up all my energy [and] I can’t really do anything on weekdays after work.”
She begins the workday at 9.30am and ends most days at 10pm, sometimes pushing to midnight. On a single workday, Lee receives about 200 messages. With constant meetings and collaborative work filling the day, evenings are often the only time Lee has to catch up on individual tasks.
This is far from unusual, according to new research. Microsoft’s 2025 work trend index report found that many workers are increasingly grappling with “infinite workdays”, which start before sunrise and stretch late into the night. They are interrupted by some 270 pinging notifications along the way, about one every two minutes.
