Work culture and productivity
Clocking out vs. always-on
Work-life imbalance
More than half of workers (55%) say working long hours and being “always-on” is the norm at their company.
74% of workers have worked while sick within the last year
35% of workers have taken a work call while on vacation
Can’t escape the pings
An overwhelming 85% of workers receive work emails, messages, or calls after hours. Among them, 36% receive after-hours comms at least once a day.
58% of Gen Z workers reply to after-hours messages immediately vs. 40% of Gen X
15% of workers aiming for leadership roles feel after-hours pings are annoying vs. 24% of those not going for a top job
Career growth and ambition
Is the corporate ladder broken?
Job advancement feels iffy
Enter the side hustle
A full 70% of workers believe people should always look for income sources beyond their main job. Freelancing holds appeal for 31%, and 42% are drawn to being a business owner.
The top reasons workers are taking on or eyeing side hustles include:
48% want to save for a specific goal
44% need extra income to survive
37% want to build new skills or chase a passion
Money matters: Most workers (88%) are waiting to reach a certain income level before pursuing major life milestones.
Promotion playbook: Gen Z edition
Most workers (70%) believe that job promotions require going above and beyond. But Gen Z and Millennials are more likely to think that doing a good job should be enough.
This mindset may be holding them back: only 28% of Gen Z workers are satisfied with their current career path.
Older workers seem to have a passion-first approach: 54% of Boomers strongly believe that loving your job is key to success, 10 points higher than younger generations.
Middle management squeeze
Middle managers, maximum pressure
Trust issues: managers caught in the middle
Middle managers (supervisors, managers, or team leads) sit in a tricky middle ground when it comes to transparency.
Just 42% of individual contributors believe their direct managers would welcome questions about company strategy and finances and answer honestly, compared with 52% of middle managers and 60% of senior leaders and above.
Different levels, different burnout
Low motivation is a bigger productivity problem for individual contributors than senior leaders (33% vs. 20%), along with unclear priorities (31% vs. 19%). Middle managers fall in between.
However, the burden of constant task switching weighs more heavily on middle managers (39%) than senior leaders (31%).
Leaders are quietly relying on AI
One in five workers have used generative AI on the job without telling their manager, and 15% have kept it from customers, too.
But senior leaders are more likely to be using AI under the radar, which could signal that they feel more confident navigating it solo—or just don’t feel the need to check with their boss.
METHODOLOGY
The SurveyMonkey “2025 Workplace Culture and Trends” study was conducted between July 25 to August 3, 2025 among a sample of 3,573 full time workers in the US. Respondents for this survey were selected from a non-probability online panel. The modeled error estimate for this survey is plus or minus 2.0 percentage point. Data have been weighted for age, race, sex, education, and geography using the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey to reflect the overall demographic composition of the United States. For more insights from this study, see our “2025 Workplace Culture and Trends” study crosstabs.
²The SurveyMonkey “Business Trends” study was conducted March 25-31, 2025 among a sample of 2,912 business professionals and business leaders in marketing, customer experience, human resources, and other roles involving surveys or feedback. A supplemental survey was conducted at the same time among 2,481 US adults. Respondents for this survey were selected from the more than 2 million people who take surveys on our platform each day. The modeled error estimate for this survey is plus or minus 2.0 percentage points.
Copyright © 1999-2025 SurveyMonkey