There was a time, not so long ago, when the 9-to-5 was the punchline of the professional world. In film and song, it was portrayed as a beige existence โ a repetitive, presenteeist slog that one settled for in exchange for a pension.ย
Today, the connotations are different. The 9-to-5 is increasingly linked to stability and healthy work-life balance. For many, someone clocking off at 5 p.m. is no longer a subject of ridicule, but of envy.ย
Why? Because for most Americans the 9-to-5 no longer exists.ย
As the CEO of DeskTime, I have a front-row seat to the habits of the American workforce and hereโs what the data says.ย
U.S. overtime by the numbers
Thereโs nothing inherently wrong with overtime. Working late to finish a project, covering for a colleague, or clocking extra hours to make ends meet is a normal, often necessary part of any work environment โ provided it is compensated and irregular.
While I cannot speak to compensation trends, I do have the numbers on the latter; my team looked into the anonymized working patterns of over 9,000 Americans using DeskTime.ย
We found that, in 2025, on average, over 80% of U.S. workers stayed late 4 out of every 5 workdays, and that the predominant working model isnโt the 9-to-5, but the 9-to-6.
(The raw data: The average American worker exceeded the 8-hour workday 16.3 times per month in 2025, while 82% of Americans worked overtime at least once a month. Average weekly hours worked โ 44h 48min.)ย
Interestingly, our findings contrast with those of a decade-old Gallup poll, which reported that, in 2014, half of all workers clocked 40+ hour weeks, with the average hours worked per week sitting at a 47h. Notably, in Gallupโs poll, nearly 1 in 5 full time employees self-reported working 60+ hours a week.ย
In short, today, more people are working less overtime.ย
Shouldnโt we be working less, not more?ย
The rampant overtime may feel counterintuitive in a time when countries are reflecting on the positive results of 4-day workweek pilots and AI is heralded as the great leveler set to boost worker productivity.ย
So, whatโs happening?
1. Shrinking teams, same targets
The idealistic fantasy is always that people (now empowered by the latest technology) will be able to do their jobs more effectively and reclaim some time for themselves. The reality? Technology always replaces a number of jobs and rewards the people who can squeeze the most out of it.ย
Weโre seeing it with AI, too. In the Future of Jobs Report 2025, 40% of employers โanticipate reducing their workforce where AI can automate tasksโ. But hereโs the thingโฆhiring has already slowed and many companies are undergoing the AI transformation right now โ and failing.ย
So fewer people are expected to do more with technology that isnโt meeting expectations.ย
2. Blurred linesย
During the pandemic, research revealed remote workers working a whole hour more than their in-office counterparts. The takeaway wasn’t about personality or productivity levels, but rather how sharing spaces and devices blurred the boundaries between professional and personal life.
Today, despite in-person work making a comeback, the lines remain blurred. Work chats buzzing at all hours of the day, AI agents running tasks while youโre away, responding to emails while commuting, the ability to connect to work from virtually anywhere โ itโs easier than ever to slip into overtime.ย
3. Hyperproductivity as a survival tactic
In an era of AI and rapid automation (and a faltering job market), there is a mounting pressure to prove human value, and this often translates into longer hours worked. Whether itโs to learn new tools or position oneself as a loyal and hard worker, the end result is often the same: overtime.ย
The twist: We ARE working less
Despite these pressures, our data suggests that overtime frequency and length are actually trending down compared to the last two years.
In 2023, 93.3% Americans worked overtime and nearly two hours more a week, with the weekly hours sitting at 46h 36min. In 2024, the numbers were 90% and 45h 38min, respectively. Weekly overtime has dropped by nearly an hour two years in a row โ a substantial shift.
Has AI adoption reached a stage where itโs starting to pay dividends? Are we finally shedding the always-on habits of the pandemic? Or are there other factors at play, such as Gen Z (and their disdain for the hustle culture) entering the workforce, or the growing influence of Right to Disconnect laws and company policies finally trickling into the American corporate consciousness?ย
Notably, this isnโt a global trend. Europe, once the bastion of work-life balance, is sliding the other way. According to our data, average weekly hours there rose from a perfect 40 in 2023 to 41h 24min in 2025.
While the gap between the U.S. and Europe remains, it is closing and it will be interesting to see if it continues to do so in the coming years.
But right now, I believe itโs time to retire the term 9-to-5 because, in the U.S., itโs virtually extinct.ย
