Why 9-to-5 Jobs May Be a Thing of the Past | FlexJobs (2024)

Disclaimer: Although originally published before the coronavirus pandemic, this article has been updated to reflect how COVID-19 has impacted 9-to-5 jobs.

Cloud-based assignments. Alternative schedules. Work-from-anywhere jobs. Hybrid work models. Not too long ago, flexible work options like these may have seemed out of reach for many, but now they’re increasingly mainstream, in large part due to COVID-19. The tectonic shift that’s underway confirms a notion some experts believe: 9-to-5 jobs are on the way out.

One longtime proponent of that theory is Douglas Coupland, a Canadian novelist, essayist, visual artist, and speaker. Well before the pandemic, Coupland was known for his belief that big changes are underway in the workplace. Namely, that the traditional 9-to-5 jobs are a tired and outdated holdover from the industrial age.

Coupland’s slogans, plastered on billboards in Vancouver, embrace a growing celebration of work flexibility. In a pre-pandemic profile in The Guardian, Coupland expounds on the future of work and what he sees as the inevitable demise of “barbaric” 9-to-5 jobs, thanks to technology and the empowered rise of more free-spirited, tech-savvy workers who are taking control of their careers and their lives.

Apparently, Salesforce, the software technology giant, agrees. Declaring that “the 9-to-5 workday is dead,” Salesforce revised its workplace policies to create a more immersive, hybrid culture that provides the best workplace from anywhere, for everyone on the company’s global team.

As for Coupland, several of his books like Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Cultureand the novelMicroserfs, have been deemed ahead of their time in predicting and capitalizing on trends in the workplace and in society at large, well before the pandemic.

4 Reasons 9-to-5 Jobs May Not Exist in the Future

9-to-5 Jobs Are Outdated

Until comparatively recently in history, many office workers and other employees had little choice but to go to a workplace outside the home to access the equipment and technology necessary to do their jobs. Once there, they were expected to toil for a set number of hours.

In many industries, though, those days are gone for good.

Our Brains Are Evolving

Thanks to technology like smartphones and digitization, our brains are undergoing profound neurological changes that are freeing us up to think differently about lots of things, including work, Coupland notes. In a quote from The Guardian article, Coupland explains his belief that humans are experiencing huge brain changes, in part because of the astounding flow of information at our fingertips, all the time.

“We no longer need to remember long strings of phone numbers or directions from the airport. Why bother to remember anything? Our brains are liberated from these things. I think it’s one of the most profound neurological changes in human history,” he says. “We’ve all turned into millennials.”

Work Schedules Are More Fluid Than Ever

The industrial age gave rise to the idea of downtime on weekends to devote to family and interests outside of work. Well, no more, according to Coupland. “The future will not have the nine to five,” he says.“Instead, the whole day will be interspersed with other parts of your life. Scheduling will become freeform.”

Already, flexible workers report many benefits once they’re free from the tyranny of 9-to-5 jobs. In particular, the coronavirus pandemic gave managers and employees alike “permission to experiment” and re-think 9-to-5 structures.

More than ever, organizations have become more results-oriented, placing increasing value on how consistently deadlines are met, work quality, and whether productivity remains high, rather than when and where the work gets done. This means there is more opportunity for flexible schedule jobs and alternative schedule jobs, such as morning jobs, overnight jobs, and weekend jobs.

Job Hopping Is Expected

The notion of “one job for life” has pretty much vanished, Coupland says. Workers “don’t perceive [a job] as being a guarantee of long-term security—that’s the profound difference,” Coupland notes. One consequence is that many employers no longer look askance at job applicants whose resumes show some degree ofjob hopping.

In the post-pandemic world, employers may increasingly seek to hire workers on a contract or freelance basis, positions that by their very nature usually require moving from job to job. Soft skills, transferable skills, and other high-value qualifications will matter more and more in a transforming workplace where 9-to-5 jobs are no longer the norm.

Ditch the 9-to-5 Mindset

Job seekers who have what Coupland calls actual skills—apart from the internet and technology—will be well-positioned to move beyond the confines of 9-to-5 jobs. Says Coupland, “Always have an actual skill as a back-up, that’s very good advice.”

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