By Caroline Castrillon,Senior Contributor

Copyright forbes

The traditional 9-to-5 is breaking down as employees juggle work, family, and flexibility through microshifting.

The 9-to-5 workday is slowly crumbling. In today’s remote and hybrid era, more employees are breaking free from that rigid structure so they can design their days around their lives instead of the other way around. They’re logging on at 6 a.m. to knock out emails, stepping away for a midday workout or school pickup, then returning to finish a project after dinner. This workplace trend is called microshifting, and it reveals a powerful shift.

The new frontier of flexibility isn’t where people work, but when. According to Owl Labs’ 2025 State of Hybrid Work Report, 65% of office workers want more schedule flexibility. A separate survey, Deputy’s The Big Shift: U.S. 2025, shows microshifting is also gaining traction in hospitality and service industries, where Gen Z workers are leveraging shorter shifts to balance caregiving, education and multiple jobs.

The traditional workday is no longer serving a growing segment of the workforce. Here’s why leaders should prioritize trust over tracking or risk losing their best talent.

Why The 9-To-5 No Longer Works

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. Despite this, many companies are doubling down on return-to-office (RTO) mandates. Owl Labs reports that 63% of employees are now in the office full-time, and among hybrid workers, in-office days are climbing. A phenomenon called “hybrid creep” shows that 34% of hybrid workers now go into the office four days a week, up from 23% in 2023. While companies are pulling workers back into the office, employees are pushing back by refusing to let the clock dictate their productivity.

What Is Microshifting?

Microshifting is the practice of breaking up the workday into short, flexible blocks rather than adhering to a continuous eight-hour stretch. Unlike traditional flexible hours, which might allow you to start at 10 a.m. instead of 9 a.m., microshifting gives employees the freedom to work in bursts throughout the day based on when they’re most productive or when life demands their attention. A parent might work from 7 to 9 a.m., take a break for school drop-off and errands, return for a few hours in the afternoon, then log back on after bedtime to wrap up. In industries like hospitality and food service, this often means shifts of six hours or less. For knowledge workers, it’s about autonomy over their schedule rather than simply where they sit.

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Why Employees Are Driving The Change

Employees aren’t just asking for microshifting. They’re 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 4-day work week. Flexibility has become as valuable as compensation, and for good reason.

The Caregiving Crisis

With 62% of surveyed employees caring for children at home, the rigid 9-to-5 doesn’t accommodate modern life. Parents have long practiced what’s known as the “second shift,” stepping away for school pickup, dinner and bedtime routines, then logging back on after the kids are asleep. But now, 68% of parents worry that caregiving responsibilities might hurt their job performance. That anxiety is even higher among full-time in-office employees (71%) compared to remote workers (48%). Microshifting offers a way to manage both without the guilt or the performance hit.

The Rise of Poly-Employment

And it’s not just parents pushing for change. One in five employees is poly-employed, juggling side hustles alongside their main job. With 59% of employees scheduling personal appointments during traditional working hours, the boundaries of the workday have already blurred. Shorter, more flexible shifts aren’t just convenient. They’re essential.

Why Trust Matters More Than Tracking

The biggest obstacle to microshifting is trust. Many leaders still equate visibility with productivity, even though the data suggests otherwise. Owl Labs found that 69% of managers believe working hybrid or remotely has made their teams more productive. Yet companies continue to invest in employee tracking software. Only 19% of employees say their company isn’t using monitoring tools, and 47% cite surveillance as a top workplace concern.

The Meeting Tax

This lack of trust comes at a cost. Employees are losing an average of six minutes just getting hybrid meetings started, with 27% reporting they lose 10 minutes or more per meeting. Over two-thirds (67%) have tried to set up video technology for a meeting but gave up because it was too difficult. Commonly called the “meeting tax,” it’s eating into the very productivity leaders claim to care about.

The Burnout Factor

Ninety percent of employees say their stress is the same or worse than last year, and 47% are worried about job stability. The result is a workplace phenomenon called “quiet cracking,” where employees silently burn out while still going through the motions. Microshifting could be part of the solution. By allowing employees to step away when they need to recharge and return when they’re ready to focus, companies can prevent burnout before it becomes a crisis.

How Leaders Can Adapt

If microshifting is the future, leaders need to stop managing time and start managing outcomes. Here’s how:

1. Set clear norms for communication and availability

If someone is microshifting, the team needs to know when they’re reachable and when they’re not. Tools like shared calendars, status updates and asynchronous communication platforms can bridge the gap. The goal is to ensure collaboration doesn’t break down.

2. Ensure fairness across roles

Microshifting works well for knowledge workers, but what about frontline employees who need to be present at specific times? Companies need to think creatively about how to offer flexibility across different roles. Whether through shift swapping, compressed schedules or predictable time-off policies, the goal is to ensure that flexibility is accessible to all employees, not just those in certain functions.

3. Use technology to support, not control

Owl Labs found that 80% of employees are already using AI in their work, and 51% wish they could have an AI avatar sit in on meetings for them. Rather than deploying surveillance software, companies should invest in tools that make microshifting easier, like AI-driven scheduling, automated meeting summaries and smart collaboration platforms.

Why Organizations Must Evolve

The stakes for getting this right are higher than most leaders realize. For decades, people have organized their lives around their jobs. Now, employees are demanding the reverse through microshifting. They’re willing to sacrifice pay, switch employers or quietly disengage if they don’t get it. Companies that resist will lose more than headcount. They’ll lose the trust, creativity and loyalty of their best people. The 9-to-5 served its purpose for over a century, but it’s time to evolve. The next chapter of work culture is being written right now, one microshift at a time.

If you liked this, you’ll also want to read: 7 AI-Proof Jobs For Introverts Who Want Stability and 5 Ways To Turn Career Gaps Into A Win And Impress Employers

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