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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.
The Owl Labs research found that Gen Z and millennials were the most enthused about the idea, with 72 per cent expressing interest compared to 45 per cent of Gen-Xers and 19 per cent of baby boomers. Deputy, a management platform for hourly work, recognised that this emerging trend was being similarly driven by young people in the US in its 2025 report, The Big Shift: How Gen Z is Rewriting the Rules of Hourly Work.
Microshifting is already making its way into staff recruitment conversations, says Sam Collier, head of marketing at the talent acquisition and intelligence consultancy Talent Insight Group. “We’re seeing a rise in our clients talking to candidates about flexibility within each day, as well as hybrid working patterns,” she says. “Whether that’s start times and end times or the ability to do the school run, it’s an approach that says no to micromanaging and puts the emphasis on output over being sat at a desk from nine to five.”
But though this kind of working style is increasingly appealing to job seekers, particularly in a post-pandemic world that has seen a rise in remote and hybrid working, many businesses have been slow to adapt.
“Demand for flexible working is currently higher than what companies are offering,” explains Peter Duris, CEO and co-founder of the AI CV-building service Kickresume. Recent data from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) includes some “striking statistics”, he adds: 18 per cent of UK employers say they’ve seen an increase in staff requesting flexible working, and 20 per cent of employees surveyed said they would use flexitime if their organisation offered it. However, access to flexible working “is not equal”, according to the CIPD. Two-fifths of employers say that just some (28 per cent) or a few (12 per cent) employees are able to work flexibly.
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Microshifting can enable workers to fit in an afternoon exercise class rather than being constrained by set working hours (Getty)
One company that already offers microshifting has swiftly seen the benefits. Riannon Palmer, founder of B Corp PR agency Lem-uhn, says the business embraced various forms of flexible working upon going fully remote in 2023 – most recently, microshifting.
“I usually do an hour of work in the morning from 6.45-7.45am, then I’ll go to the gym and then I’ll work from a café for the morning,” she tells me. “I’ll have a shorter lunch and then quite often go out in the afternoon. I’ve actually started playing padel on Tuesdays in the middle of the day.”
For Palmer, the biggest advantage is not about achieving the hallowed “work-life balance” so much as it is about harnessing peak productivity. “I know I work a lot better when I do those short chunks of work, whereas if I was 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. Aside from boosting productivity by working with, instead of against, an individual’s specific needs, it can also enable a company to extend its service beyond the 9-5. For example, an employee who is more of a night owl and prefers to log an hour or two before bed might be well-placed to answer queries from different time zones.
I know I work a lot better when I do those short chunks… It’s about working with my brain
Riannon Palmer, Lem-uhn founder
Unlike the campaign for the four-day week, which is increasingly gaining traction, Collier points out that microshifting “allows organisations to maintain coverage throughout the full working week, making it a good option for leaders hesitant to implement a reduction in the working week”.
In a landscape in which 44 per cent of workers say they would be prepared to reject a role that does not offer flexible hours, and in which half of people cite the pursuit of a better work-life balance as the top reason for changing jobs, “soft” benefits like microshifting could also be key to attracting and retaining staff. Especially at a time when many businesses are struggling to financially reward staff with bonuses or higher pay.
Multiple surveys have shown that British workers prize flexibility above cash. In one LinkedIn poll by People Management, three-quarters said flexible working was more important to them than a pay rise when considering a new role. And almost half would reject a 15 per cent pay increase in favour of retaining workplace flexibility, according to a poll by Payfit.
It’s not just about people who’d like to play tennis in the middle of the afternoon. Workers are also frequently parents to young children, children of elderly parents, or relatives of people with disabilities and additional needs. An estimated 5.8 million people in the UK have unpaid caring responsibilities, and these will inevitably sometimes fall within standard office hours.
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Night owls can shift their working pattern to accomplish more in the evening instead (Getty)
Meanwhile, Mental Health UK’s Annual Burnout report found that one in three (34 per cent) of adults experiences high or extreme levels of pressure or stress “always” or “often”. Those aged 18 to 24 were most likely to be absent due to poor mental health caused by stress, and most likely to report high stress due to problems such as having to regularly work unpaid overtime.
This is one major risk of microshifting – that unless boundaries are firmly held by both employer and employee, it simply becomes another part of the toxic “always on” culture in which people take their work home with them and do extra hours for free.
“As with all flexibility, the devil is in the detail,” warns Penelope Jones, a workshop leader and career coach. “On the surface, it sounds lovely, and empowered, and gives a cute name to something people (women) have been doing for some time – often out of necessity as much as desire – that feels more ‘now’ than work-life balance.” But it potentially jeopardises our ability to switch off and fully disconnect from work, she says, or to ever feel fully present in one mode or another.
So how can businesses establish microshifting that supports, rather than damages, work-life balance? “Boundaries have to be explicit,” says Duris. “Managers and colleagues need to know clearly when someone is and isn’t available, and there should be a simple policy for what happens if something ‘urgent’ comes up while they’re off shift.” Despite being the founder of her company, Palmer doesn’t allow work emails or notifications on her phone, for example, to ensure the lines between work and leisure time don’t get blurred.
As with all flexibility, the devil is in the detail
Penelope Jones, career coach
Workers who finish later because of breaks during the day should also make clear that their colleagues aren’t expected to be online after-hours, says Duris. This could be as simple as adding a line to their email signature explaining that they don’t expect replies outside the normal working day. He also recommends setting core hours when everyone should be available for team meetings and collaboration; the Lem-uhn team has implemented this strategy between 9am and 3pm.
So, is microshifting going to go mainstream in 2026? The jury’s out. While some businesses are embracing ever-more-flexible approaches attuned to modern life, others are going in the opposite direction entirely. Almost half of UK companies want staff on site “all the time”, found one survey published this year; several banks and corporations have hit the headlines for upping return-to-office mandates. And then there are the tech startups giving employees bonuses if they live within 15 minutes of the office or demanding a 9-9-6 work schedule (9am to 9pm, six days a week).
Regardless, it might be too late to put the flexible working genie back in the bottle. Whether it’s sanctioned or not, 51 per cent of employees confessed in one survey that they already schedule personal appointments during work hours. And the companies that do embrace microshifting could end up reaping the rewards. “It’s something that you can do that’s free and that’s going to increase the happiness and productivity of your employees,” says Palmer. “It’s a real no-brainer.”