Have you ever fantasised about restructuring the workday around the rest of your life? Maybe you’d log in at 6am and do a couple of hours, then take the kids to school and hit a yoga class, before logging back on at 10am and working until lunch. Maybe you’d take a two-hour lunch break to run errands, do a few hours of Zoom meetings in the afternoon, and spend the evening with family before catching up on emails after dinner.
If so, you’re not alone. Two-thirds of UK workers are hankering for this kind of flexible working, according to a poll of 2,000 people commissioned by the collaboration technology firm Owl Labs. It’s being called “microshifting” – for what workplace trend worth its salt doesn’t have a buzzy new bit of terminology attached to it – and the practice is all about working in short, flexible blocks, tailored to balance workplace needs with the employee’s individual duties and productivity. As long as the hours get done – or, far more importantly, the work gets done – an employee is trusted to splice the day up as they see fit, moulded around their energy patterns and lifestyle.
