--- title: "How much of the work week do knowledge workers spend searching for information? (19–25%) | The AI at Work Fact Book" description: "Knowledge workers spend 19 to 25 percent of the work week, about 9 to 10 hours, searching for information. Five primary studies, sources and method." url: "https://evy.so/facts/time-spent-searching-for-information/" last_updated: "2026-10-16" --- F-01 · Where the Week Goes # How much of the work week do knowledge workers spend searching for information? The most-cited studies put it at 19 to 25 percent of the work week, or about 9 to 10 hours. Across all five studies the estimates run from about 5 to 15 hours a week, because each one defines searching a little differently. 19–25% of the work week, about 9 to 10 hours Across all 5 studies: 5–15 hours a week. - Medium confidence - 5 primary sources - 2012 to 2025 - Last checked October 13, 2026 ## Cite this EVY (2026). How much of the work week do knowledge workers spend searching for information? The AI at Work Fact Book, F-01. https://evy.so/facts/time-spent-searching-for-information/ (last checked October 13, 2026). CC BY 4.0. Copy citation [Data as JSON](https://evy.so/facts/time-spent-searching-for-information.json) [Markdown](https://evy.so/facts/time-spent-searching-for-information.md) ## How to read it All five figures are people's own estimates; none comes from time tracking. They also count different things: McKinsey includes tracking down colleagues, Qatalog counts only searching inside work apps, and Atlassian gives no definition. McKinsey re-used IDC's 2009 survey, so its number is a 2009 measurement published in 2012. Three of the five creators sell search or work-hub software. Hours assume a 5-day week; McKinsey's share uses the 46.5-hour week its respondents reported. ## Every study on one scale Shaded: 19–25% of the week Dashed: all five studies One figure Chart values as text - Scale: hours a week. Shaded range: 19–25% of the week; dashed, all five studies: 4.9 h to 15 h. - McKinsey Global Institute (2012): 8.8 h (19%) - Atlassian (2025): 10 h (25% of 40 h) - Glean / Harris Poll (2022): 2 h a day (10 h) - Qatalog / Cornell (2021): 59 min a day (4.9 h) - Coveo (2025): 3 h a day (15 h) **Why medium confidence:** Three independent studies agree on 19 to 25 percent, but all five are self-reported surveys, and two vendor surveys sit well below and above that cluster. ## Sources Sources for F-01 | Study | Creator | Year | Sample | Method | Figure | Link | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies | McKinsey Global Institute, using IDC survey data | 2012 | Managers and professionals in IDC's 2009 survey; sample size not stated | Re-analysis of IDC's self-reported time-use survey | 19% of the week (8.8 of 46.5 hours) “19 percent of working hours trying to track down information needed to complete tasks” | [mckinsey.com ↗](https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/the-social-economy) [Archived copy ↗](https://web.archive.org/web/20260710105837/https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/technology-media-and-telecommunications/our-insights/the-social-economy) | | The State of Teams 2025 | Atlassian Teamwork Lab | 2025 | 12,000 knowledge workers and 200 Fortune 1000 executives in the US, UK, Australia, India, Germany and France | Online survey, self-reported | 25% of the workweek “Executives and teams alike spend a quarter of the workweek searching for information” | [atlassian.com ↗](https://www.atlassian.com/blog/state-of-teams-2025) | | Hybrid Workplace Habits & Hangups | Glean, survey by The Harris Poll | 2022 | 1,043 employed US adults | Online survey, December 2021, self-reported. Glean sells enterprise search. | At least 2 hours a day, or 25% of the workweek, looking for documents, information or people “spend, on average, at least two hours a day” | [businesswire.com ↗](https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005510/en/Hybrid-Workplace-Habits-Hangups-Report-Frustrated-Employees-Spend-a-Quarter-of-Workweek-Searching-for-Information-Needed-to-Do-Their-Jobs) [Archived copy ↗](https://web.archive.org/web/20260615090357/https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005510/en/Hybrid-Workplace-Habits-Hangups-Report-Frustrated-Employees-Spend-a-Quarter-of-Workweek-Searching-for-Information-Needed-to-Do-Their-Jobs) | | Workgeist Report '21 | Qatalog with Cornell University's Ellis Idea Lab | 2021 | Three surveys of about 1,000 remote-working professionals each, US and UK | Online surveys, March 2021, self-reported. Counts only searching inside work apps. Qatalog sells a work hub. | 59 minutes a day finding information trapped in apps and tools “up to 5 hours a week, just trying to find what we need” | [qatalog.com ↗](https://qatalog.com/) [Archived copy ↗](https://web.archive.org/web/20210624191022/https://assets.qatalog.com/language.work/qatalog-2021-workgeist-report.pdf) Qatalog is now part of ClickUp and no longer hosts the report; the archived copy is the original PDF. | | EX Relevance Report 2025: The Search for Relevance | Coveo, survey by Arlington Research | 2025 | 4,000 people who use a computer for work at companies with 5,000 or more staff, US and UK | Online survey, self-reported. Coveo sells AI search. | 3 hours a day searching for information (3.6 hours in the 2022 edition) “an average of three hours daily searching for information” | [coveo.com ↗](https://www.coveo.com/en/company/news-releases/2025/coveo-ex-relevance-report) | Related finding ## How many hours a day do people spend looking for information? About 1.8 to 2 hours a day in the main cluster: McKinsey's 8.8 hours a week over 5 days, and Glean's at least 2 hours a day. The full spread runs from about 1 hour a day (Qatalog, inside work apps only) to 3 hours a day (Coveo). ## Numbers you may have seen These figures circulate widely. Here is what the original source says. - **McKinsey: 19.8% of the week is spent searching for information.** The report says 19 percent, and "nearly 20 percent" in its summary. The figure 19.8% does not appear in it. - **IDC: knowledge workers spend 15 to 35% of their time searching, or 2.5 hours a day.** The 2.5 hours was a working assumption IDC used to model costs in 2001. The 15 to 35% rolls up older studies that are not named, so neither figure traces back to a measurement. - **Gartner: professionals spend 47% of their time searching for information.** Gartner's 2023 survey found that 47% of digital workers struggle to find the information they need. It counts people and gives no figure for time. - **Microsoft: 62% of time goes to searching for information.** In Microsoft's 2023 Work Trend Index, 62% of people say they struggle with too much time spent searching. It is a share of people and gives no figure for time. ## More from Where the Week Goes - [F-02**53–61%**How much of the work day goes to coordinating work rather than doing it?](https://evy.so/facts/time-on-work-about-work/) - [F-03**3–18 h**How many hours a week do people spend in meetings, and how much of it is wasted?](https://evy.so/facts/time-in-meetings/) - [F-04**20–26 min**How long does it take to get back to a task after an interruption?](https://evy.so/facts/time-to-resume-after-interruption/) - [F-05**13–28%**How much of the work week do knowledge workers spend on email and chat?](https://evy.so/facts/time-on-email-and-chat/) - [F-06**3–4 h**How much time do people lose switching between apps at work?](https://evy.so/facts/time-lost-switching-apps/) - [F-07**4.6–5.7 h**How much time do people spend redoing work that already exists?](https://evy.so/facts/time-spent-duplicating-work/) [The whole chapter](https://evy.so/facts/where-the-week-goes/) · [Chapter poster](https://evy.so/facts/where-the-week-goes/sheet/) · [All of The AI at Work Fact Book](https://evy.so/facts/)