Remote workers are more productive and face less interruptions than their office-only co-workers

Report finds remote-first employees log more productive hours, fewer interruptions
Hybrid model offers flexibility but leads to shorter work breaks
Healthcare workers face high burnout risk despite increased productivity

ActivTrak Productivity Lab’s latest report on workplace productivity trends has revealed work location significantly affects productivity, and remote-first companies, where employees work remotely most of the time, are provider greater productivity, reduce interruptions, and are the most popular.

The survey covers 958 companies and 135,098 employees, offering an overview of productivity across various sectors, such as financial services, healthcare, insurance, and professional services.

It found productivity levels across various industries vary – employees in the financial sector recorded 30 more minutes of productive time per day than their peers in other sectors, with these employees also exhibiting a 9% higher healthy utilization rate, meaning they were working efficiently without the risks of burnout or underutilization.

A matter of balance?

Similarly, employees in the healthcare industry also logged more productive time than the cross-industry average, with an additional 36 minutes of work per day. However, more than one-third of healthcare employees face a high risk of burnout or disengagement, as they fall into either the overutilized or underutilized categories.

In the insurance sector, employees spend 18 fewer minutes per day in collaborative applications than their peers, but there is a 41% lower underutilization rate, suggesting that employees are generally more engaged and working to capacity.

Most companies (55%) adopt the remote-first model where employees spend over 60% of their time working remotely, however, 25% of companies prefer the hybrid approach.

Only 18% of companies use the office-first setups where employees spend the majority of their time in the office while just 2% of companies use the remote-only models, where employees work entirely from home.

Interestingly, remote-first employees log more productive hours per day on average compared to those in other models, likely due to fewer in-person meetings and interruptions. In contrast, office-first employees exhibit the most balanced work patterns, with almost 70% of their time spent in a healthy state.

Hybrid employees take slightly shorter breaks (90 minutes on average compared to 104-120 minutes for other models), suggesting that managing work across both environments might introduce more intensity into their workdays. Despite this, the hybrid model is gaining popularity for its flexibility.

ActivTrak warns that employees who spend over 75% of their time in an overutilized state risk burnout, while those who spend more than 75% of their time in an underutilized state risk disengagement.

For remote-only employees, 31% of their time is spent in an overutilized state, which is the highest among all working models. However, they are also the most focused, spending an average of 4 hours and 24 minutes per day on single tasks without interruptions. Predictably, their collaboration time is very low meaning they have fewer opportunities for group work compared to employees who spend some time in the office.

“Our latest study reveals that workplace model and location — whether office, remote or hybrid – really does impact how we work, focus and collaborate,” said the company’s Chief Customer Officer and Head of Productivity Lab, Gabriela Mauch.

“As organizations contemplate flexible workforce policies, a return to the office or other changes in organizational design, it’s critical for leaders to first understand baseline productivity data and the potential impact of location on employee engagement and performance.”