- 70.8% of evening instant responses were promoted in the last two years
- The campaign is 1.3 times more likely to get immediate responses than those who wait until the next morning
- Millennials reap the biggest rewards for quick responses in research published by workforce solutions firm Careerminds UK
Achieving a work-life balance by disconnecting from work for an evening may be good for your peace of mind and family life, but it could just make you miss out on a promotion, a new report has claimed.
Research conducted for Careerminds UK found that responding to that late-night message from your manager before you’re fired can increase your chances of landing a desirable new role.
Its report found that 7 in 10 (70.8%) respondents who admitted to being “instant responders” got a promotion in the past two years, far more than the group who took a “let me live my life for a few hours” approach.
Millennial but message more
Elsewhere, the research is divided, with Millennials far more likely to be promoted to evening communications than Gen Xers. This report comes just months after the UK government’s plans for a “right to switch off” were put on hold.
Careerminds’ research found that “the slower the response, the lower the promotion rate.” Responding to out-of-hours messages immediately is a 70.8% promotion rate; responses within an hour drop the rate to 68.2%, while responses the next morning are 55.1%.
There is also a gender breakdown, with 79.0% of rapid responders in the last two years listed as male, compared to 60.8% marked as female.
Also of interest is the generation gap. The study shows that 86.0% of millennials with a quick response to respond to messages outside of scheduled hours were promoted, compared to 47.2% of Gen X employees (44 to 59). Gen Z employees achieved promotion at a rate of 81.2%.
Interestingly, the rapid-response-for-promotion effect does not appear to have any significant advantage for entry level or director suite roles. Instead, it appears to be focused around the center of an organization’s hierarchy.
What happened to “The right to switch off”?
Intended as a workplace reform to be included in the UK government’s Employment Rights Act, the right to switch off was supported by trade unions, employees and even company managers. But when the bill was announced, this key aspect was left out, relegated to the government’s “Next Steps” document.
Unfortunately, subsequent reports indicated that the policy would be scrapped, with a government source telling The Sunday Times that the policy was “dead”. The reason? Reducing economic pressures on businesses, including “unnecessary barriers” to make “Britain the best country in the world to do business in.”
In comparison, Ireland has had a similar rule for employees to ignore out-of-hours messages since 2021, and France introduced the right to disconnect in 2017.
As the UK welcomes a new prime minister on July 20, 2026, potentially with different priorities, it remains to be seen whether the right to switch off can be switched back on.
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