26-year-old Aussie quits office job for microshifting — works in short bursts as 9-to-5 doesn’t suit her

There is a new flexible working style that has been gaining traction despite burnout concerns from people nowadays. With this, a 26-year-old Gen Z from Australia shared how she quit her conventional office role and started embracing the new style called “microshifting,” where she optimises her productivity by working in short and focused bursts rather than sticking to a strict 9-to-5 working hours.

Taleesha Kamp is a fashion design graduate who previously worked at the headquarters of a famous fast fashion brand. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic opened doors for remote workers, she opted to look for jobs that followed this kind of working schedule. 

She now handles the marketing, social media, website management, and emails for her family’s business, averaging 30 hours weekly from home. She admitted that her current way of working is more about ‘shifting the focus’ to outcomes, rather than the time spent.

“I don’t work fewer hours just because I do have this flexibility and microshift. I just work them at smarter times when I know that I’m feeling my best, my brain is working and functioning as it should,” she said.

Furthermore, she added that her working schedule changes day-to-day or even week-to-week, and she just ‘microshifts’ her work around her life, making sure the work still gets done.

This kind of flexible approach allows her to work on her other commitments as well, such as volunteering, her other freelance jobs, and her horse riding lessons. 

Kamp admitted: “It gives me the time to really grow and come back to work feeling satisfied and with my mind working at the right frequency.” 

More about this new trend

There was a Yahoo poll that showed 40% of the readers stated that they are fully productive for about four to five hours in a given day, and 25% said they can get 6-7 hours of solid work done every day. 

In some office jobs, research tells that companies that offer flexible hours get to hire and keep good workers. Data shows 14% of firms lost top candidates to rivals with better flexibility schedules. 

Moreover, those who embraced microshifting say old work rules don’t suit everyone anymore.​

A recent report from the Productivity Commission discovered that despite Australians experiencing a record increase in hours worked (6.9%) in 2022-2023, the longer days of work failed to produce a similar increase in their economic outcomes. More so, productivity actually fell by 3.7% 

Productivity Commission deputy chair Alex Robson said: “Productivity growth is about working smarter, not working harder or longer.” 

Given all these factors, microshifting might suit self-employed or flexible roles, but its broad adoption remains unclear as traditional working hours are under criticism.