A new study suggests workers who log in from anywhere are putting in days that often stretch from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., rather than the standard eight-hour shift. The “2025 Trends in Hybrid Work Report: The Facts Behind Balancing Security and Performance,” released by Cloudbrink, found that usage spikes on Fridays, pointing to longer hours outside a typical 9-to-5 schedule.
“Employers shouldn’t worry that remote workers are slacking off. It’s simply not true. Our data shows they actually work longer hours,” said Prakash Mana, CEO of Cloudbrink. He said the main obstacle to productivity is “network connectivity issues caused by VPNs and other outdated security.”
Cloudbrink, which examined usage data from thousands of workers on its Personal SASE service, found a steady rise in data transfers on weekends as well. While many employers fear remote workers might lose focus outside the office, the report states that most are actively connected, but face challenges such as dropped connections and slow file transfers.
A separate survey of 251 IT, network and cybersecurity professionals found more than half reported that 40 per cent or more of their employees work remotely at least once a week.
The report also pointed to packet loss as a key factor in poor network performance. “Unfortunately you can’t solve all connectivity issues with a bigger pipe,” said Mana. “Packet loss is the ten-ton gorilla hiding in the shadows, and it’s a more prevalent problem than most people think.”
According to Cloudbrink, even 0.5 per cent packet loss can severely reduce connection speeds by compounding latency. The company said 60 per cent of end users in its data sample struggle with packet loss above that level.
The new findings are based on real-time usage data from millions of work-from-anywhere sessions and a survey of professionals from a range of industry sectors. More than half the survey respondents work at companies with 5,000 or more employees.
