Common workplace interruptions are wasting UK employees nearly an entire day per week, hindering productivity and profitability, according to new research released from Protime UK. The research, conducted among 2,000 UK employees, found the average full-time worker loses 7.5 hours each week – nearly an entire working day – due to “Productivity Killers”: disruptive and preventable interruptions such as unnecessary meetings, unhelpful emails and workplace distractions.
The study found that with two thirds (65%) of staff facing interruptions of 30 minutes to 2 hours per day, the constant barrage of disruptions is taking a major negative toll on both employees and businesses.
The key findings of the research were:
- Productivity Killers make working days harder and longer: around half of those surveyed (46%) said simple tasks take longer than they should. One in four said they made their job harder than necessary and are the reason for regular unpaid overtime (23%) or working evenings at home (20%).
- The majority of employees feel unempowered to prevent Productivity Killers: only 12% of workers say they are fully able to stop interruptions with one in four (23%) saying there is no easy way of raising the issue at work, and one in five saying that management are uninterested (21%), or that saying something would upset their colleagues (19%).
- Productivity Killers undermine employee wellbeing and motivation: 37% say that interruptions increased stress and anxiety, one in five (21%) say they cause them to be less motivated to work hard and third (34%) say colleagues get away with less work than they should as a result.
- Employee engagement and retention suffers as a result of Productivity Killers: Just under half (42%) of employees feel dissatisfied and one in five say they cause people to leave their employer.
- Businesses pay a price in lower productivity and profitability: Only one in three employees (31)% say their employer is focused on being as productive as possible while one in ten say (13%) the business is not as profitable as it should be as a result of productivity kills.
Workers say that the top three unplanned interruptions come from the demand to respond urgent emails which aren’t urgent (29%), non-work chatter (28%) and desk drop-ins (21%). This was followed by last-minute requests to ‘jump on a call’ (18%).
On average employees said around 10% of their time or 23 working days per year was spent in unnecessary and unproductive meetings.
Commenting on the research Simon Garrity, Country Manager for Protime UK said:
Constant workplace disruptions aren’t just a frustration – they directly impact the bottom line through lower productivity, engagement and retention. Employers need to get a grip on the hidden time-wasters and equip managers to have open conversations about prioritising workflows. Workers want to focus but can’t do it alone – they need support from the top to reclaim their time and unleash their full potential. The cost of doing nothing is too high. By empowering employees to master their time, businesses can maximise productivity, morale and profitability.
Simon Garrity, Country Manager for Protime UK
The full findings are available in the research report ‘Great Reset: Empowering Employees to Manage Their Time’ which can be downloaded here.
Joanne is the editor for Workplace Wellbeing Professional and has a keen interest in promoting the safety and wellbeing of the global workforce. After earning a bachelor's degree in English literature and media studies, she taught English in China and Vietnam for two years. Before joining Work Well Pro, Joanne worked as a marketing coordinator for luxury property, where her responsibilities included blog writing, photography, and video creation.