For our annual State of Work Report — now in its fifth year — we surveyed more than 2,000 knowledge workers in the US and more than 2,000 workers in the UK to better understand current views on work. We gathered hundreds of data points in the process and found a workforce that believes their work matters but is sometimes frustrated by the changes that come with the digital transformation. Even though some of these stats showcase frustrations, there is hope that as we make efforts to streamline workflows, improve visibility, and use an operational system of record, the state of work will improve.

1. HOW WE WORK:
14 STATS

2. We surveyed more than
2,000 enterprise workers
across the United States.

3. Here’s (some of) what
we found...

4. We struggle
to find time
to innovate.

5. 58% say we’re
so swamped with
day-to-day work
that we don’t have
time to think.
58%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

6. Only 39% say
our company
encourages us
to set aside time
to innovate.
39%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

7. We allow
email and
wasteful
meetings
to cripple
productivity.

8. We spend only
40% of our
workday on our
primary tasks.
40%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

9. 62% say wasteful
meetings get in
the way of work.
62%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

10. We (sometimes)
struggle to find
purpose.

11. On average,
we say 61% of
the work we do
matters to us
personally.
61%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

12. 55% of us would
rather sit through
a pointless
meeting than go
to the DMV.
55%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

13. We’re wary of
automation
replacing
our jobs.
31
31

14. 48% of us say we
know people who
have already lost
jobs because of
automation.
48%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

15. We say that 37%
of the day-to-day
aspects of our
jobs are
automated.
37%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

16. We’re
skeptical
of our
colleagues’
work.

17. If we could rate
our colleagues
like Uber drivers,
on average we’d
give them only
3.7 stars (out of 5).
3.7 / 5
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

18. My company
leadership
We rank ourselves as the most productive employees
and company leadership as the least productive.
*Out of 10
Myself 8.2*
7.2
6.8
My co-workers
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

19. We’re looking
for digital
tools to
manage
modern work.

20. 51% aren’t using a
work management
platform but
would like to.
51%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

21. 58% say our
company is going
through a digital
transformation.
58%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

22. We’re skeptical
when it comes
to the future
of tracking
our work.

23. 34% believe that
within 5 years
we’ll be able to
track almost all
work being done
in our company.34%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

24. 24% say we’ll be
able to see how
all work aligns to
the bottom line.
24%
SOURCE: STATE OF WORK 2018-19 | WORKFRONT.COM

25. For the full scope
of data, as well as
recommendations
on addressing these
challenges, read
the report at
Workfront.com/SoW