The Death of the Workday: Is 9-to-5 Working Obsolete?

What is a 9-to-5 workday? 

A 9-to-5 workday assumes that employees log a standard 40-hour workweek. They start working at 9 a.m. and, other than a few short breaks, don’t stop until 5 p.m. 

While this schedule may sound rigid, 16-hour workdays were the norm during the Industrial Revolution. Welsh social reformer Richard Owen saw this as unsustainable and began campaigning for the eight-hour workday. The rationale was that there are 24 hours available in a day, so we should aim to balance them equally between work, leisure and rest.

Henry Ford was among the first to introduce the eight-hour workday back in 1914. It proved to be a success for the Ford Motor Company in terms of increased productivity and profitability, so other companies quickly followed suit.

It seemed that this was the beginning of an inexorable trend toward working less. In 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted that his grandchildren would have to work only 15 hours per week thanks to technology. 

Clearly, Keynes’ prediction didn’t come to fruition, as the 40-hour workweek has remained essentially unchanged for decades. And in many countries, people routinely work longer hours than that.

However, Keynes was right to expect profound cultural and technological changes. And increasingly, many people are asking whether the 9-to-5 workday is still the way to go. 

Pros of a 9-to-5 workday

Despite its critics, the 9-to-5 working model has advantages. Here are the biggest benefits of this traditional workday schedule:

• A 9-to-5 workday can create a better work-life balance. While a 9-to-5 working model may limit flexibility, this schedule can be a helpful way to draw a line in the sand between work and leisure time. In a 9-to-5 schedule, those are typically the only hours you spend working. In comparison, many people who work from home work long after their workday has ended. In this way, the 9-to-5 model can provide a more manageable work-life balance.
• A 9-to-5 workday can provide structure. Consistent working hours give your workday structure. This schedule can also make planning easier because you always know when you’ll be working and when you’ll be off work.
• A 9-to-5 workday provides opportunities for social interaction. Employees who go to an office or establishment every day benefit from social interaction with co-workers. This human contact can help stave off loneliness and make working more enjoyable. 

Cons of a 9-to-5 workday

While it has its upsides, the 9-to-5 model is far from perfect. Here are a few significant downsides to consider: 

• A 9-to-5 workday doesn’t guarantee productivity. Just because you’re in an office or workplace from 9-to-5 doesn’t mean you’ll be productive. Much of that time can easily be frittered away talking with co-workers, attending productivity-killing meetings, and otherwise wasting time. A 2023 poll conducted on the anonymous online professional community Blind garnered around 10,000 responses — 45 percent of whom said they worked four hours or less in an eight-hour workday. 
• A 9-to-5 workday can be inflexible. By its very nature, a 9-to-5 schedule is inflexible. These firmly set office hours limit freedom, which can hurt workplace morale and make it harder to recruit new employees who prioritize flexibility and a positive work-life balance.
• A 9-to-5 workday doesn’t consider employee productivity windows. Employees are unique individuals whose productivity windows vary. According to a survey by MyPerfectResume, 59 percent of respondents identified themselves as “early birds,” while 25 percent claimed to be “night owls.” High-productivity times for various professionals ranged from early morning to night. A 9-to-5 model can’t consider all employees’ individual optimum productivity windows, which may cause businesses to miss out on potentially excellent contributions.

Has remote working put an end to the 9-to-5 workday? 

Advances in online technology and cultural shifts have changed the way we work. Do the following technological and cultural changes spell the end of the 9-to-5 workday?

• Employees can access their work remotely. With secure remote access solutions, employees can securely access their work whenever and wherever they need to. This has resulted in an unprecedented rise in the number of people working from home. In the days of Owen, Ford and Keynes, workers were required to be physically present to do their jobs. But with people working remotely, the idea of setting fixed hours when they should be doing their work seems outdated.
• Technology makes work accessible 24/7. Technological advancements have prompted a disconcerting rise in the number of office workers taking work home with them, making it challenging to quantify exactly how many hours people work. Email overload is one example. Many professionals say they check their work email after leaving the office; some even log on before they get out of bed in the morning. One email work study found that employees spend 23 percent of their time checking emails, with some estimates suggesting that they check emails 36 times per hour. Even if employees are in an office from 9-to-5, their free time may be swallowed up by work demands outside those hours.
• Consumers demand immediacy. Cultural and generational changes have brought about a demand for immediacy among consumers. It’s now incredibly difficult for companies to simply “switch off” after hours. Most consumers expect immediate answers to their questions and problems — a significant challenge to the 9-to-5 philosophy. As a result, businesses — particularly digital companies — find themselves under pressure to expand their hours of availability.
• Employees are willing to work more. Employees are also feeling the pressure to expand their availability. Many professionals are concerned about job security and advancement, making them willing to go the extra mile, often risking employee burnout  to try to stay ahead.

However, despite the above points, many employers still prefer a 9-to-5 work schedule and are mandating return-to-office (RTO) policies for a more traditional work model. In fact, according to a ResumeBuilder survey, 51 percent of employers want to set an RTO policy and require employees to work full time in the office. Additionally, 72 percent of companies believe a return to the office boosts revenues. 

Still, many employees feel differently. According to a FlexJobs survey, more than half of respondents say they or someone they know would quit their job if they were required to return to the office full-time. 

The 9-to-5 model may be an organization’s choice

Experts are divided over whether the 9-to-5 model has a long-term future, and it’s challenging to reach any definitive conclusions at this point. Despite all the technological changes and cultural upheaval, an idea that seems totally antiquated still has its merits for some organizations and industries.