65% of workers are interested in ‘microshifting’ their schedules, says new report

Is there anything many workers want to leave behind as we head into 2026? 9 to 5 schedule. Instead, many people are interested in adopting a practice called “micro-scrolling.”

2025 at Baykuş Laboratories State of Hybrid Operation report65% of employees reported engaging in microchange, defined as working in “short, non-linear blocks based on personal energy, responsibilities, or productivity patterns.”

“Microshift appeals to employees not just as a scheduling choice, but as a way to take back control over their increasingly fragmented work lives,” Owl Labs CEO Frank Weishaupt tells CNBC Make It. “Employees improvise solutions to reconcile the demands of their jobs with the realities of their lives.”

During the pandemic’s remote work boom, many workers had more control over their time during the workday. Interest in microchange may represent interest in maintaining this flexibility, especially among workers who are remote or self-managed to some degree, as traditional 9-to-5 jobs may be more difficult for office workers.

But microscrolling isn’t a completely new practice. Doug Gregory of Grand Rapids, Michigan, says he’s been doing it as a remote worker for decades, before he had that name and even since the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We’ve kind of gotten used to the idea of ​​being there for our loved ones or being there for them,” he says of a broader sentiment in the workforce. pandemic remote working period. “We have become accustomed to taking better care of our health.”

While Gregory acknowledges that “not everyone has control over their calendar,” he finds that “the day is more fluid” when microswitching.

“If I need to take an hour off during the day to do something with the grandchild, go to the doctor, etc., that’s okay, I’ll make it up in the evening, make it up early in the morning,” he says. “The question is what I am responsible for doing, how I will do it, and how I will organize my life to do it.”

Gregory previously held sales roles, but today he works as a freelancer in the field of audiovisual integration.

“I make my living based on results,” he says. “Nobody sends me a check for how many hours a week I work.”

Microshifting can be particularly useful for parents and caregivers; Owl Labs’ report found that caregivers were roughly three times more likely to try microswitching than non-caregivers.

Theresa Robertson of Elkridge, Maryland, is one of them. Robertson says she balanced her work, including her former role as a project manager, with caring for her late husband, who had chronic health problems, for 25 years.

“For me, it was just making sure I didn’t lose my job,” he says. “I had to take care of my husband and I had to work, so I had to figure this out.”

That meant starting some days early or finishing late others to schedule meetings around his doctors’ appointments and drive him to those appointments, manage his medications, and handle other caregiving responsibilities.

“We had a routine; once I got him settled, dressed, made sure he had his medication and food, I was able to relax and focus on my work,” she says. “I had more control over my day where I could stop and decide, okay I need to check my blood pressure and then get back to work.”

He states that some of his jobs during this period, such as project management, were more result-oriented, so he was trusted to manage his time as long as he carried out his work himself.

“As long as I got the job done on time and on budget, they weren’t really looking to see if I pressed the clock to see if I was in the building at 7 a.m.,” he says. “I’ve done a lot of Zoom meetings in hospital rooms because I take my laptop with me wherever I go, and when I can work, I can work.”

Today, Robertson runs a virtual assistant agency that he says helps him continue micro-change. He arranges his working hours so that, for example, Friday afternoons are mostly free to deal with personal matters.

“I microswitch all the time,” he says. “This is the only way I can have a life and make an income.”

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