A staggering study has laid bare the extent of the UK's 'always-on' work culture, revealing that many employees are checking work emails in the bathroom and on dates, with huge numbers considering quitting before they buckle under the pressure.
Workers checking emails in the bathroom and on dates
More than two in five (42%) UK workers admit to checking work messages in the middle of conversations, while 41% do so in the bathroom and 29% while on a date, according to research by the human resources platform HiBob. The study of 2,000 workers found that almost half (47%) say there is no longer a clear quiet period at work, and over half (51%) say they now have less time to recover between busy periods than they used to.
The research, carried out by Censuswise for HiBob, states that 58% of employees say the pressure in their roles has increased compared to two years ago. July and August used to be traditionally slower months for office-based employees, but UK workers no longer think this is the case.
Mental exhaustion and quitting intentions
Almost half (49%) of workers said they feel expected to always be available for work, and 47% feel mentally exhausted at the end of most working days. More than a third (42%) of those surveyed said they were considering leaving their jobs.
The 'always-on' culture extends to holidays, with 55% of workers checking their emails within minutes of waking up. More than a quarter (27%) say failing to respond to messages outside working hours would harm their career.
Managers feel underprepared
Toby Hough, HiBob's vice-president of people and culture for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, said: 'We're seeing a structural shift in how work happens – potentially the biggest since the pandemic. Many workers no longer feel there is a natural point where pressure eases or where they can properly switch off, while managers increasingly find themselves balancing rising performance expectations with protecting employee wellbeing. Left unaddressed, this shift poses a significant long-term risk to businesses.'
HiBob suggests that managers are doing their best to absorb pressure. But out of the 501 UK managers surveyed, the majority (51%) said they felt underprepared and out of their depth dealing with the scale of these challenges. More than two-thirds (68%) said they would benefit from clearer guidance on managing high-performing teams in today's working environment.
Gen Z 'AI guilt'
It has also emerged that Gen Z employees entering the workforce are experiencing what is being called 'AI guilt': they see AI literacy as essential to their careers but don't feel they have clear permission to use it openly at work. Research by Employment Hero, an AI-powered employment platform, reveals that 50% of Gen Z workers feel guilty using AI to produce work, while 52% say using AI to do parts of their job feels like cheating.
Speaking about her experience of AI guilt, university student and jobseeker Ria Kaur said: 'As a Gen Z student experiencing the world of work through internships and placements, I see AI everywhere. But I also find that, in workplace situations, AI can feel like my dirty little secret. I think this comes from the stigma around younger generations using AI, which becomes stronger in the workplace because of the frustrating idea that Gen Z are lazy, or that we do not know what real work is. If a young person uses AI at work, it can feel like people assume they are offloading the task or taking the easy way out. In reality, a lot of us are using it responsibly to understand a task, prepare for a conversation or make sense of something new - but I still feel like it has to be kept hidden.'
