[Pulse Report] The State of Work Intensity & Expectations

Work Like a Dog Day isn’t just a calendar quirk. For most of today’s workforce, it’s a daily reality.

In June and July 2026, we surveyed 400 working professionals,  spanning individual contributors to C-suite executives and business owners across manufacturing, energy, construction, healthcare, and beyond, to get an honest picture of work intensity in America today. What we found challenges the narrative that overwork is driven by demanding bosses or hustle culture. The reality is more structural, more personal, and more widespread than most organizations want to admit.

What the data shows:

• 79% of workers log more than 40 hours per week, making the standard workweek the exception, not the rule.
• 93% of workers report working outside standard business hours, with 25% saying nights and weekends are almost always part of their schedule.
• 55% describe their current workload as heavy, very heavy, or unsustainable.
• 64% agree that long hours are tied to perceptions of commitment and success in their workplace.
• 80% feel moderate to extreme pressure to continuously build new skills to remain relevant.
• 38% say AI has increased expectations for their output over the past year, while only 4% say it has reduced their workload.
• 35% say their biggest AI-related experience is being expected to learn new tools and technologies, with 26% now spending meaningful time fact-checking and correcting AI-generated work.
• Workers are more confident in keeping their jobs (56% confident) than in advancing their careers (43% confident), a gap that points to the quiet anxiety reshaping professional ambition in 2026.

When asked in their own words why they work as much as they do, workers didn’t cite pressure from above. They cited absorbed roles never backfilled after layoffs, the weight of being the last experienced person in the room, financial obligations that don’t bend to economic uncertainty, and, for a striking number, a genuine love of the work itself.

Download the report to meet the workforce that keeps showing up, and finally understand why.