Ahead of World Productivity Day (Saturday 20th June), research from workplace digital adoption expert WalkMe reveals office workers are wasting eight hours a week battling technology friction, while lost productivity overall costs businesses the equivalent of 18% of annual turnover. It’s almost like there’s a connection.

At a time when campaigners are pushing for a four-day week, WalkMe’s data suggests a more pressing issue: right now, we can’t even make a five-day week work. While 59% of leaders blame the shortfall on employees not getting to grips with new software quickly enough, the research also shows many businesses have tried – and failed – to boost productivity by encouraging better use of workplace technology.

Four-day week campaigners have the diagnosis right: workers want lower stress and better work-life balance. But they have the wrong cure. unless businesses make technology easier to use, the end result will be more stressed employees trying to fit more work into an even tighter period.

Tal Carmi, CIO at WalkMe, says:

“Organizations are pouring money into AI and workplace technology to lift productivity, yet productivity is not lifting as expected, making the net gain for the organization negative sometimes due to the cost of this technology. The tools were meant to remove friction, but employees are spending their days navigating systems and troubleshooting on their own, with nothing guiding them. The problem isn’t the people using the technology. It’s that the technology was never made usable for them.”

“A sales rep shouldn’t have to jump between a CRM, a separate quoting tool, a contract system and an approval chain in email just to get one deal out the door, entering the same numbers over and over at every step. Fixing that isn’t about buying more tools. It’s about making the ones you have understand what someone is trying to do and guide them through it, instead of leaving them to work it out. When technology fits the way people work, the productivity you were promised starts to show up and that is when guidance, automation, and critical context are already right there in the flow of work.”

WalkMe’s State of Digital Adoption Report 2026* found:

  • Workers spend 7.91 hours a week managing digital frustrations and technology friction
  • Lost productivity costs 18% of business’ annual turnover per year
  • 59% of executives say productivity is being harmed because employees cannot understand new software applications quickly enough
  • 41% of organisations have not achieved improved efficiency through programmes to better orchestrate their applications and AI
  • Only 17% of workers say their employer helps them be more productive through AI completing multi-step tasks with a single command, the lowest-ranked form of support
  • Asked what improved productivity at work would mean for them, 47% said lower stress, and 38% said a better work-life balance

*The State of Digital Adoption 2026 is based on a global survey of 3,750 respondents, including 1,700 senior leaders and 2,050 office and hybrid workers at enterprises with 1,000 or more employees across 14 countries.