72 Critical Time Tracking Statistics: 2021 Market Share Analysis & Data

A new version of this article, featuring the latest data and statistics, is available. Check out our report on Time Tracking Software Statistics for 2022.

From a business standpoint, managing time and tracking how workers spend their time allows you to maximize resources, improve employee performance, and monitor where your hours are going. Smart decisions come from real-world data, not guesswork, and there is no better way to do this than by diving into crucial time tracking statistics. When complemented by time tracking software, businesses are just about set up to address the issues springing from the misuse of time in the workplace.

We help you start in this direction with this compilation of the most critical time tracking statistics of 2021. With these data, you should be able to understand why you should make it a habit to monitor how your employees use their work hours, as well as how you can leverage software solutions to optimize the process. Furthermore, this should give you an idea of the different challenges you might encounter as you implement new tech for time tracking.

General Time Tracking Statistics
The Cost of Not Tracking Time
Time Tracking Technology Data
Time Tracking Challenges

General Time Tracking Statistics

Time tracking is a tried and tested way to manage work hours effectively. When done regularly and accurately, this method can help you boost productivity and, eventually, improve employee engagement and performance.

However, not all employees log their daily activities, and not all companies use time tracking as part of their routine. This means that many employers are kept in the dark when it comes to the whereabouts of their subordinates during work.

The silver lining here is that there are managers and C-level executives who seem to be realizing how time tracking can help them keep up with competitors. Moreover, with the prevalence of remote work and the use of mobile phones for official purposes, we can expect that the time tracking software industry will grow in the coming years.

Only 17% of people are actively tracking their time. (TechJury, 2021)
Multi-tasking without time-tracking decreases productivity to 45%. (Tempo, 2019)
The global time tracking market size will grow at a CAGR of almost 20.69% until 2025. The significant increase in CAGR accounts for the potential effects of COVID-19. (KTVN, 2020)

What Takes Up Your Employees’ Productive Time?

Employees have a long list of tasks that they need to do on a daily basis. From answering emails and taking calls to wrap up tasks and attending meetings, there is no doubt that the modern workplace can be hectic. Below, you’ll see that employees often spread out their time in order to accomplish these responsibilities.

An employee spends about 28% of his or her work hours answering and reading emails. (Harvard Business Review, 2019)
An average full-time worker in the US spends 2.6 hours on emails amounting to 120 messages per day. (Harvard Business Review, 2019)
15% of a company’s time is spent on meetings and similar activities. (Tameday, 2019)
Over $37 billion are spent on unproductive meetings in the US. (Tameday, 2019)
69% of workers spend more than an hour of their day on meetings. (The Manifest, 2020)
Up to four hours a week are spent on unproductive tasks. (Workpuls, 2020)
On average, employees spend only 2.8 hours on productive tasks. (RescueTime, 2019)
More than 34% of employees spend two to five hours on calls and/or meetings per week that do not accomplish anything. (Korn Ferry, 2019)
Activity rates in the office plummet down to 45% between 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM. (Hubstaff, 2020)
Freelancers’ activity rates go down to 43% between 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM. (Hubstaff, 2020)
In general, most employees are most productive between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM with up to nine accomplished tasks during this time. (Hubstaff, 2020)
IT specialists and engineers in the United Kingdom spend more than 15 hours in front of the computer during the day. (Business Fibre, 2019)
On the other hand, British teachers and accountants spend about 10 hours a day using their computers for work. (Business Fibre, 2019)

Where Do the Lost Hours Go?

Just because your employees report for work daily doesn’t mean they are maximizing their productive hours. There are plenty of distractions at work, and not all employees are engaged enough to perform their tasks for 8 hours straight. Moreover, mundane tasks often get in the way of employees who want to attend to more attention-demanding responsibilities.

With that said, you might also want to focus on fostering an efficient work environment through the use of time tracking tools. You can do this by analyzing what unnecessary activities are taking up too much time, monitor if there are employees that are overworking, and address other problems in your daily workflows.

Workers spend only about 27% of their day on skill-based tasks. (TheDrum, 2020)
Employees are only productive for 2 hours and 23 minutes per day. The remainder of their workday is used to check social media (44 minutes), browse news sites (1 hour, 5 minutes), discuss work with officemates (40 minutes), coffee breaks (17 minutes), instant messaging (14 minutes), snack breaks (8 minutes), making food in the office (7 minutes), making calls (18 minutes), and searching for new jobs (26 minutes). (vouchercloud)
More recent studies show that only about 20% of working hours are spent on high-priority of critical tasks. (WorkPuls, 2020)
In the UK, workers spend over two hours a day doing anything that’s not considered work. (Human Resources Online, 2020)
Senior managers report that 16 days a year are wasted searching for printed documents. (TechJury, 2020)
Moreover, 44% of employees tend to interrupt themselves. (Inc., 2019)
It usually takes around 23 minutes and 15 seconds for employees to return to their original activity after being interrupted. (Inc., 2019)
However, instead of finishing their original tasks, 40% of employees wander in another direction. (Inc., 2019)
Interruptions are more likely to cause errors in the employee’s task. (Springer, 2019)
Employees use up to three hours per day surfing the web for personal reasons while at work. (The Balance Careers, 2019)
On average, a knowledge worker spends more than five hours on their computer. (RescueTime, 2019)
60% of employee’s tasks are work about work such as organizing files, communicating about tasks, and more. (Asana, 2019)
Workers check instant messages and emails every six minutes, which affects productivity. (RescueTime, 2019)

Source: Asana, 2019

The Cost of Not Tracking Time

Time is money. If employees are unproductive during work hours, you can bet that it will cost you.

However, many companies are not using time tracking for their operations. They monitor billable hours according to what employees report on a weekly or monthly basis, but they don’t quantify poor time use. Because of this, they don’t know what activities they are paying their employees on a daily basis. Moreover, they have no means to determine if they are losing money due to unproductivity.

Time tracking data revealed that the US economy loses 50 million hours in productivity per day because of unrecorded work activities. (Market Research Future, 2020)
Unrecorded emailing activities alone can leak $50,000 per professional annually. (WorkPuls, 2019)

Time Theft and Buddy Punching

Time theft and buddy punching are common practices in companies that still use paper timesheets and Bundy clocks. The former simply refers to the practice of rounding up weekly hours while the latter means an employee clocks in on behalf of another employee. While many often do this to make up for a few minutes, this can have a huge impact on your bottom line.

By investing in more sophisticated time tracking tools, you can eliminate the risk of compensating dishonestly logged hours.

Time theft affects 75% of businesses. (Connecteam, 2020)
Time theft can cost employers an average of $11 billion per year. (WorkPuls, 2019)
Time theft can take as much as 7% of your gross annual payroll. (WorkPuls, 2020)
Buddy punching can cost employers roughly $373 million every year. (WorkPuls, 2019)
49% of American employees openly admit to time theft. (WagePoint, 2019)
Similarly, 62% of Canadian workers admit to doing so as well. (WagePoint, 2019)

Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Violations

Buddy punching and time theft aside, there are other factors that can put your business at risk of violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) regulations. These include having employees who work off the clock, log in and out earlier or later than scheduled, as well as unrecorded tardiness.

If you want to save yourself from hefty fines and lengthy legal proceedings, having solid time tracking protocols will do you well. Many software solutions will allow you to automate the monitoring of productive hours. This way, you can record the actual times that your employees start and end work as well as discourage employees from working after-hours.

48% of employees in the US work late in the office or bring their work home. (TheDrum, 2019)
33% of salaried employees reported that they work on the weekend. (The Balance Careers, 2019)
The total cost of minimum wage and overtime violations that the US Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has recovered in the last 5 years is over $1.4 billion. (US Department of Labor, 2020)
The 10 leading wage and hour class action agreements in 2019 was valued at $449.1 million. (Bloomberg Tax, 2019)

Time Tracking Technology Data

Advancements in technology have allowed businesses to improve various aspects of their operations. Time tracking is no exception. The tools you can use to monitor productive hours have evolved from spreadsheets to sophisticated systems that automate time tracking and integrate with your other platforms.

What’s more, there is an extensive selection of time tracking tools that you can choose from depending on your business size or budget.

Automated Time Tracking

Automation is a key driver in the evolution of work. So it only makes sense that modern time tracking can also be automated. By capturing work hours in real-time, you can check what your employees are spending their time on. This way, you can pinpoint the factors that have a negative impact on productivity and address them before they affect your bottom line.

73% of organizations are very satisfied with the returns from automating their business tools and processes. (The Economist, 2019)
Companies can eliminate daily lost productivity and recapture a total of $666,400.00 in yearly wages by automating time tracking. (Acumen Data Systems, 2020)

Time Tracking for Payroll Management

Let’s face it. Preparing payroll papers is complicated, and it becomes twice as difficult if you don’t have accurate data on billable hours. By using time tracking tools, you can eliminate the need for manual reporting and reduce the time spent on correcting faulty timesheets.

Just be sure, however, that you are not simply choosing time tracking software with the most features. Try to consider solutions that can integrate with your existing payroll systems, so you don’t have to worry about compatibility issues. Furthermore, look for systems that offer functionalities for analytics, employee self-service, and the tracking of multiple worker classifications to make payroll management much more seamless.

You can also check out our in-depth article on what is time tracking software to learn more about the features you should look for in this type of system.

Up to 93% of employees in the US said that their paychecks are always delivered on schedule due to business and productivity tools such as time tracking. (Netsuite, 2020)
Even with the availability of time tracking software, only 60% of employees are very certain that their pay deductions and net pay are accurate. (Netsuite, 2020)
49% of American workers will leave a company after experiencing two issues with their paychecks. (ASAP Payroll Service, 2021)
Companies that utilize software with timekeeping and payroll features were 44% less likely to commit errors. (ASAP Payroll Service, 2021)
Automated time tracking can reduce the time it takes to calculate time cards from seven minutes/card/pay period to one minute/card/pay period. (Acumen Data Systems, 2020)
Companies that use an integrated timekeeping and payroll solution can exceed revenue targets by 7%. (ASAP Payroll Service, 2021)
Payroll staff spend up to 1o hours a month on payroll processing. (WagePoint, 2019)
The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) includes rest breaks, travel time, and training on top of working time in paid hours. (US Department of Labor, 2008)

GPS Tracking

Time tracking is highly effective for discouraging employees from using office resources and billable hours for personal purposes. However, this might only be true for desk jobs. Time tracking for remote workers is a different story.

In the past few years, there has been an increase in the number of remote workers worldwide. These not only applied to logistics companies but also to businesses that need employees to go outside the office to perform their jobs. This is why many admins have started to utilize GPS tracking solutions alongside their time monitoring tools.

These allow managers to ensure that employees are where they are supposed to be. Moreover, it can ensure their safety while improving accountability.

41.8% of U.S. workers are now working remotely due to the pandemic. (Upwork, 2020)
Experts expect 22% of the American workforce to work remotely by 2025. (Upwork, 2020)
Due to COVID-19, the projected number of remote workers increased by 87%. (Business Wire, 2020)
32% of employees have experienced using GPS tracking at work. (Quickbooks, 2019)
The top five reasons why employers use GPS tracking are safety, accountability, efficiency, mileage tracking, and productivity. (Quickbooks, 2019)
Up to 64% of companies use GPS fleet tracking systems in their organizations. (Verizon Connect, 2021)
There’s an 8.5% increase in the number of organizations that use GPS tracking software from 2018 to 2019. (Verizon Connect, 2021)
78% of modern workers are comfortable with GPS tracking while working. (Quickbooks, 2019)
82% of employees believe that GPS tracking does not invade their privacy. (Quickbooks, 2019)
62% of companies are leveraging new tools to monitor and collect data on their employees. (Accenture, 2019)
16% of workers raised concerns about GPS tracking and their company addressed their issues. (Bonusly, 2019)
However, 6% have reported problems with GPS tracking but their company ignored their concerns. (Bonusly, 2019)

Source: Bonusly, 2019

Time Tracking Challenges

Time tracking is pretty straightforward, but there are challenges that come with rolling out new ways to do it. Many businesses are accustomed to using traditional methods such as punch cards, spreadsheets, or even pen and paper. So, it might be harder for these companies to start utilizing new tech for monitoring productive hours.

Challenges to Tech Adoption

There are plenty of benefits to using time tracking software, but it seems only a small fraction of companies are taking advantage of it.

Experts would often chalk this up to the lack of support from C-level executives as well as the different priorities of companies. After all, some businesses don’t deem time tracking tools as urgent as other operational software like marketing, sales, and ERP platforms.

However, if you want to maximize your productive hours and cultivate an efficient workplace, investing in time tracking is crucial. It not only allows you to monitor the billable hours of your employees but also lets you get in-depth insights regarding the day-to-day activities of your staff. This way, it is easy to see what aspects of your workflow needs improvement.

Over 1/3 of time tracking systems are outdated. For instance, in the US, 38% still use paper timesheets and punchcards. This is higher in Canada, where 58% still use these systems. (WagePoint, 2019)
Around 38% of US employees still use paper timesheets and punch cards. (WorkPuls, 2019)
50% of professionals who do not have automated systems say manual data input and data adjustments are the most time-consuming parts of the process. (Deloitte, 2019)
80% of those surveyed who use paper systems reported that they needed to correct 80% of the timesheets that they receive. (WorkPuls, 2019)
Also, 58% of Canadian workers use the same system as mentioned. (WorkPuls, 2019)
Employers overpay up to 200 billable hours per year because they do not have time tracking software at work. (WorkPuls, 2020)

Problems with New Time Tracking Tech

As we discussed earlier, the use of GPS is growing in popularity among companies because it simplifies the monitoring of remote workers. However, adopting this technology for your operations may come as a challenge. This is because there are still employees who believe that this technology invades their privacy.

One possible reason for this is because there are employers who abuse GPS tracking to monitor their staff’s whereabouts 24/7. With that said, we strongly recommend that you set limits as to how you will use this for your productivity management efforts. This way, you can ensure employee engagement without the risk of making your employees feel like you’re placing them under a microscope.

4% of employees say that GPS tracking invades their right to privacy. (Quickbooks, 2019)
20% of employees will take some form of legal action if they find out that they are being tracked off the clock. (Tsheets, 2019)
78% of leaders and managers prefer to trust their remote employees overusing time tracking tools. (Terminal, 2020)

How does time tracking impact employee well-being?

While time tracking can increase productivity, it also raises questions about its impact on employee well-being. Tracking tools may inadvertently lead to stress or burnout if not managed thoughtfully. Here are key ways time tracking affects employee well-being and suggestions for creating a balanced approach:

Increased Pressure to Perform: Constant tracking can create a sense of being monitored, leading to stress or anxiety. To mitigate this, companies should emphasize that time tracking is intended to support productivity rather than to monitor every detail of performance.
Work-Life Balance Concerns: For employees working remotely or with flexible schedules, time tracking can blur the boundaries between work and personal life. Establishing clear guidelines on work hours and promoting regular breaks can help maintain balance.
Risk of Burnout: When time-tracking data is used to optimize productivity, there’s a risk of overburdening high-performing employees. Managers should use time-tracking data to ensure workloads are reasonable rather than overwhelming, supporting sustainable productivity.
Positive Effects on Efficiency and Focus: When used as a self-management tool, time tracking can help employees focus on tasks and reduce distractions. Encouraging employees to view time tracking as a personal productivity aid can make the tool feel empowering rather than intrusive.
Employee Involvement in the Process: Involving employees in decisions around time tracking—such as selecting tools or defining tracking parameters—can make them feel respected and valued. Transparent communication about how data will be used fosters trust and alleviates concerns about privacy.

What Do These Time Tracking Facts Mean for Your Business?

The data we’ve culled can only mean one thing: the key to productivity in the modern age is time tracking.

The fast-paced nature of current office environments poses plenty of challenges to companies that want to cultivate an efficient workforce. Employees are often more distracted, spending their time on activities other than work. Moreover, fewer and fewer staff members are engaged in their work.

By implementing time tracking, you can monitor how employees are spending their hours, understand what changes you can make to simplify their load and ensure that they are on the right track in each project they undertake. Consequently, this will allow you to help your employees build healthier work habits that can move your business forward.

Another benefit of time tracking is that it allows you to remain compliant with ever-changing labor laws. It can deter employees from rounding up weekly hours and practicing buddy punching—two of the most common reasons why companies are flagged for FLSA violations.

However, many still haven’t invested in tools that will help them make this happen. So, if you haven’t already used time tracking for your business, now might be the time to start. But of course, investing in one is not enough to ensure its effectiveness, be sure to also research time tracking strategies to reinforce your tools.

To sum up our list of critical time tracking statistics, we hope that you were able to understand the benefits of using this method for your operations and how you can leverage it to your advantage.

In case you are looking for productivity solutions that go beyond time tracking, you might want to take a look at this list of project management tools. These allow you to monitor the hours you spend on particular tasks, but more often than not, they also offer functionalities that can tackle other aspects of your operations.

Key Insights

Low Adoption Rates: Only 17% of people are actively tracking their time, which suggests a significant gap in time management practices in workplaces.
Productivity Impact: Multi-tasking without time tracking decreases productivity to 45%, highlighting the inefficiencies in managing work hours.
Growing Market: The global time tracking market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of almost 20.69% until 2025, indicating increased recognition of its importance.
Email Overload: Employees spend about 28% of their work hours answering and reading emails, with an average full-time worker in the US spending 2.6 hours on emails daily.
Meeting Overload: 15% of a company’s time is spent on meetings, with over $37 billion spent on unproductive meetings in the US.
Unproductive Tasks: Employees spend only 2.8 hours on productive tasks, with up to four hours a week spent on unproductive tasks.
Lost Hours: Employees are only productive for 2 hours and 23 minutes per day, with significant time spent on non-work-related activities.
Time Theft: Time theft affects 75% of businesses, costing employers an average of $11 billion per year.
FLSA Violations: The total cost of minimum wage and overtime violations recovered in the last 5 years is over $1.4 billion.
Tech Adoption Challenges: Over 1/3 of time tracking systems are outdated, with significant resistance to adopting new time tracking technologies.

FAQ

Why is time tracking important for businesses? Time tracking helps businesses maximize resources, improve employee performance, and monitor how hours are spent. It provides real-world data for making smart decisions and identifying inefficiencies.
What are the key statistics related to time tracking? Only 17% of people actively track their time, multi-tasking without time tracking decreases productivity to 45%, and the global time tracking market is expected to grow at a CAGR of almost 20.69% until 2025.
How much time do employees spend on emails and meetings? Employees spend about 28% of their work hours on emails and 15% on meetings. An average full-time worker in the US spends 2.6 hours on emails daily.
What is the impact of unproductive tasks on productivity? Employees spend only 2.8 hours on productive tasks daily, with significant time lost to unproductive activities like checking social media and browsing news sites.
What is time theft, and how does it affect businesses? Time theft refers to employees logging dishonest hours, such as through buddy punching or rounding up hours. It affects 75% of businesses and can cost employers an average of $11 billion per year.
What are the challenges of adopting new time tracking technologies? Challenges include resistance to change, lack of support from C-level executives, and concerns about privacy. Over 1/3 of time tracking systems are outdated, with significant reliance on manual methods like paper timesheets.
How can businesses benefit from automated time tracking? Automated time tracking captures work hours in real-time, helping businesses identify productivity issues and streamline payroll management. It can also reduce the time spent on correcting faulty timesheets and calculating time cards.

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By Allan Jay

Allan Jay is FinancesOnline’s resident B2B expert with over a decade of experience in the SaaS space. He has worked with vendors primarily as a consultant in the UX analysis and design stages, lending to his reviews a strong user-centric angle. A management professional by training, he adds the business perspective to software development. He likes validating a product against workflows and business goals, two metrics, he believes, by which software is ultimately measured.