Microsoft Discovers “Triple Peak” Work Day for its Remote Employees

The company’s post is titled The Rise of the Triple Peak Day, and it describes a new phenomenon. It says when employees were in the office, it found “knowledge workers” usually had two periods of peak productivity: before lunch and after lunch. However, with everyone working from home there’s now a third period: late at night, right before bedtime. The company notes it saw hints of this in the early pandemic, when chatting over Microsoft Teams increased the most from 6PM to 8PM. Microsoft says this reinforces the notion that the phrase “work hours” is now an amorphous concept. People decide to tend to their kids or their personal needs during work hours, then make up for it later. That’s one huge benefit of working from home, obviously. However, it also raises a potentially troubling concern, which is whether work hours are bleeding into peoples’ free time.

Microsoft discovered this phenomena by tracking employees’ keyboard usage. In doing so it found 30 percent of them had a “third peak” at night, but noted it was less intense than the two previous peaks earlier in the day. It concludes this is just the new normal; that work hours are flexible now, and not confined to the antiquated 9-5 model. The company says it’s not sure if this activity represents someone being a workaholic or just being flexible with their time. It does note that the boundaries between “office hours” and a person’s free time have become blurred. As evidence of this, it points out that Microsoft Teams users send 42 percent more chats per person after the work day is over.

Most people see this trend as a good thing, as people can be in charge of their own schedules. That said, Microsoft points out a big downside. It notes, “others mourn the loss of a defined 9-to-5 workday and the feeling of freedom they once had after leaving the office for the evening.” This lead one of the researches to smartly ponder, “The third peak should be an available option for people who need it, but the challenge moving forward is, ‘How can we make sure people are not working 24/7?’ ”
Continue reading

Intel Sues Former Employee For Alleged Theft of Xeon Data
Intel has alleged trade secret theft by a former employee.

Cyberpunk 2077 Patch Delayed Because CDPR Employees Can’t Use Their PCs
CD Projekt Red reportedly doesn't have its VPN up and running two weeks after the hack that stole its source code. That's not a good sign.

Tesla Employee Fired for Criticizing Tesla’s Full Self-Driving Technology
Ex-employee John Bernal posted a video of his self-driving Model 3 hitting a bollard, and the rest was history.

Meta Facing Mass Employee Exodus, Will Limit Hiring in 2022
From the outside, Meta appears to be having a tough time—but Mark Zuckerberg insists everything’s peachy.