What is microshifting and how can it change the workplace

hHave you ever thought about restructuring the workday for the rest of your life? Maybe you log in at 6 a.m. and work for a few hours, then take the kids to school and attend yoga class, before logging in at 10 a.m. and working until lunch. Maybe you take a two-hour lunch break to get work done, have a few hours of Zoom meetings in the afternoon, and spend the evening with family before checking emails after dinner.

If yes, then you are not alone. Two-thirds of UK employees want this flexible workingaccording to a voting 2,000 people were employed by collaboration technology firm Owl Labs. It’s being called “microshifting” – why workplace The trend is worth its salt Not there. There’s new terminology associated with it – and the practice is all about working in small, flexible blocks, designed to balance the needs of the workplace with the employee’s personal duties and productivity. As long as the hours are done – or, more importantly, the work is done – an employee can be trusted to divide the day as it fits their energy patterns and lifestyle.

Owl Labs research found that Gen Z and Millennials were most excited about the idea, with 72 percent expressing interest, compared to 45 percent of Gen-Xers and 19 percent of Baby Boomers. Deputy, a management platform for hourly work, recognized that this emerging trend is being driven by young people in the U.S. 2025 report, The big change: How Gen Z is rewriting the rules of hourly work,

Sam Collier, head of marketing at talent acquisition and intelligence consultancy Talent Insight Group, says microshifting is already making its way into staff recruitment conversations. “We are seeing an increase in our clients talking to candidates about flexibility each day hybrid is working Pattern,” she says. “Whether it’s start times and end times or the ability to run a school, it’s an approach that says no to micromanaging and emphasizes output rather than sitting at a desk from nine to five.”

Even then This type of work style is increasingly attracting job seekersEspecially in the post-pandemic world, which has seen a rise in remote and hybrid working, many businesses have been slow to adapt.

“The demand for flexible working currently exceeds what companies can offer,” explains Peter Duris, CEO and co-founder of AI CV-building service Kickresume. recent data The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) includes some “surprising figures”, he says: 18 per cent of UK employers say they have seen an increase in employees requesting flexible working, and 20 per cent of employees surveyed said they would use flexitime if their organization offered it. However, according to the CIPD, access to flexible working is “not equal”. Two-fifths of employers say only some (28 percent) or very few (12 percent) employees are able to work flexibly.

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One company that already offers microshifting has seen rapid profits. Rhiannon Palmer, founder of B Corp PR agency Lam-Uhn, says businesses adopted various forms of flexible working as they move fully remote in 2023 — most recently, microshifting.

“I usually work out for an hour from 6.45-7.45am, then go to the gym and then work from a café for the morning,” she tells me. “I’ll have lunch for a short time and then go out often in the afternoon. I’ve really started playing.” fell “In the middle of the day on Tuesday.”

For Palmer, the biggest gains aren’t about achieving the sacred “work-life balance,” but about harnessing peak productivity. “I find that I work much better when I do small tasks, whereas if I have to sit at my desk for eight hours, I’m not very productive,” she says. “It’s about working with my brain.”

In fact, offering microshifting can potentially benefit employers as much as employees. In addition to increasing productivity, it can also enable a company to extend its service beyond the 9-5, rather than working with an individual’s specific needs. For example, an employee who is more Owl And if you prefer to log in an hour or two before bed, it may be in a good position to answer questions from different time zones.

Contrary to the campaign of four day weekWhich is rapidly gaining traction, Collier explains that microshifting “allows organizations to maintain coverage throughout the work week, making it a good option for leaders hesitant to implement reductions in the work week”.

scenario in which 44 percent workers Say they would be willing to turn down a role that doesn’t offer flexible hours, and with half of people citing the pursuit of better work-life balance as the top reason for changing jobs, “soft” benefits like microshifting can also be vital to attracting and retaining employees. Especially at a time when many businesses are struggling to financially reward employees with bonuses or higher salaries.

Several surveys have shown that British workers value flexibility more than cash. In a LinkedIn poll of people management, three-quarters said that flexible working was more important to them than a pay rise when considering a new role. And nearly half would reject a 15 percent pay increase in favor of maintaining workplace flexibility voting By Payfit.

It’s not just about people who would love to play tennis in the middle of the afternoon. Workers are also often parents of young children, children of elderly parents, or relatives of people with disabilities and additional needs. an estimated 5.8 million people is in britain unpaid care responsibilitiesAnd these will inevitably come sometime within standard office hours.

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Meanwhile, Mental Health UK Annual Burnout Report found that one in three (34 percent) adults “always” or “often” experience high or extreme levels of pressure or stress. People aged 18 to 24 were most likely to be absent due to poor mental health due to stress, and were most likely to report high stress due to problems such as regularly working unpaid overtime.

This is a big risk of microshifting – that unless boundaries are placed firmly by both employer and employee, it just becomes another part of the Toxic “Always On” Culture In which people take their work home with them and work extra hours for free.

“Like all flexibility, the devil is in the details,” warns workshop leader and career coach Penelope Jones. “On the surface, it sounds lovely and empowering, and gives a cute name to what people (women) have been doing for some time now – often out of desire as well as necessity – that feels more ‘right now’ than work-life balance.” But it potentially jeopardizes our ability to switch off from work and detach completely, she says, or our ability to ever feel fully present in one mode or another.

So how can businesses set up microshifting that supports work-life balance rather than harms it? “Boundaries need to be clear,” Duris says. “Managers and colleagues need to know clearly when someone is and is not available, and there should be a simple policy for what happens if something ‘urgent’ comes up while they are off shift.” Despite being the founder of her own company, Palmer doesn’t allow work emails or notifications on her phone, for example, to ensure the line between work and leisure time doesn’t blur.

Duris says employees who finish work late because of breaks in the day should also make it clear to their coworkers that they aren’t expected to be online after hours. This could be as simple as adding a line to their email signature that they don’t expect a reply outside of the normal work day. He also recommends setting core hours when everyone should be available for team meetings and collaboration; The Lam-Uhn team implemented this strategy between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

So, is microshifting going mainstream in 2026? The jury is out. While some businesses are adopting a more flexible approach to suit modern life, others are going in the complete opposite direction. Nearly half of UK companies want staff on site “all the time”, one found survey Published this year; Many banks and corporations have come into limelight for extending the return-to-office mandate. And then there are tech startups that give employees bonuses if they live within 15 minutes of the office or demand 9-9-6 work schedule (9 am to 9 pm, six days a week).

Regardless, it may be too late to put the flexible working genie back in the bottle. Whether it was approved or not, 51 percent of employees admitted one thing survey That they schedule personal appointments in advance during working hours. And companies that embrace microshifting may ultimately benefit. “This is something you can do for free and will increase the happiness and productivity of your employees,” says Palmer. “It’s really a random thing to do.”