Hybrid work was hailed as the cure for burnout. But why are so many teams still running on fumes?
The data suggests we traded commuting stress for digital distress.
In the rush to adopt hybrid models across Ireland and Europe, we solved the "where" of work, but broke the "how."
Recent research from bodies like Eurofound and Microsoft highlights that the primary driver of modern burnout isn't just workload; it's digital intensity.
Here is what the data tells us about the current state of hybrid work:
The Blurring Boundaries: Despite Ireland’s Code of Practice on the Right to Disconnect, many workers still feel an unspoken pressure to be "always on." When your home is your office, the psychological signal that the workday has ended disappears.
We are drowning in "Digital Debt": We are spending so much time in Teams chats, email threads, and status meetings talking about work, that people have to extend their day just to get actual deep work done.
The Flexibility Trap: Eurofound data indicates a strong correlation between high digital intensity and emotional drain. Flexibility without digital discipline is just burnout by another name.
Where do we go from here?
Leaders need to shift focus from "managing attendance" to "managing intensity."
If your team is flexible but exhausted, the process is broken. We need to establish explicit team norms about communication untethered from the 9-5 clock, rigorously protect deep-work time, and ensure leaders model the right to disconnect.
How is your organization managing digital overload in the hybrid era?
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