After-Hours Work Communication: 37.7% Most Commonly Respond "Reply Depending on the Situation" — 12.7-Point Gap Between 20s (28.7%) and 40s (41.4%) by Age Group

LASSIC Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Head Office: Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture; President and CEO: Koji Wakayama; Securities Code: 574A; hereinafter "LASSIC"), operates the web media platform "Telework and Remote Work Comprehensive Research Institute (Telerimo Soken)", which promotes and supports information on location-independent workstyles. The institute conducted a survey of 1,000 working professionals with telework or remote work experience on "Communication Outside Working Hours During Telework". When asked how they respond to contact from supervisors or team members outside working hours, the most common response was "Check the content and reply outside working hours depending on the situation" at 37.7%. By age group, this response showed the largest gap: 28.7% among those in their 20s versus 41.4% among those in their 40s—a difference of 12.7 percentage points. By work arrangement, the largest difference was seen in "Systems in place to prevent work-related contact outside business hours": 13.5% for full office attendance versus 4.6% for hybrid work, indicating differing approaches to after-hours communication based on work style.

Summary

The most common response to after-hours communication during telework was "Check the content and reply outside working hours depending on the situation", at 37.7%.

By age group, the largest difference was in the same response: 28.7% among those in their 20s versus 41.4% among those in their 40s—a 12.7-point gap.

By work arrangement, the largest difference was in "Systems in place to prevent work-related contact outside business hours": 13.5% for full office attendance versus 4.6% for hybrid work—a gap of 8.9 points.

Survey Overview

Survey Name

Telerimo Soken "Survey on After-Hours Work Communication During Telework"

Survey Period

May 27 – June 2, 2026

Survey Method

Online survey

Survey Target

Men and women aged 20–65 who have experience with telework or remote work

Valid Responses

n=1,000

Response Breakdown

By work arrangement: Fully remote n=139, Hybrid n=482, Full office attendance n=379 / By age group: 20s n=181, 30s n=203, 40s n=249, 50s n=274, 60s n=93

*Due to rounding to two decimal places, percentages may not total exactly 100%.

The survey asked 1,000 telework-experienced individuals the following single-response question:

When you receive contact from your supervisor or team outside working hours during telework, which of the following best describes your behavior? (If you do not receive such contact, please select what you would do if you did.)

Most Common Response: "Reply Depending on the Situation" at 37.7%

Regarding responses to after-hours communication, "Check the content and reply outside working hours depending on the situation" was the most common at 37.7% (Figure 1).

Next were "Receive notifications but do not respond until the next business day in principle" at 16.4%, followed by "Turn off notifications and do not check except in emergencies" at 13.7%. "Systems in place to prevent work-related contact outside business hours" accounted for 8.9%.

"Reply Depending on the Situation" Peaks in 40s, 12.7 Points Higher Than 20s at 28.7%

Breaking down "Check the content and reply outside working hours depending on the situation" by age group, the response was 28.7% among those in their 20s, 35.0% among those in their 30s, and 41.4% among those in their 40s (Figure 2). From the 40s onward, the rate remained nearly flat at around 41%, resulting in a 12.7-point gap between those in their 20s and 40s (Figure 2).

"Receive notifications but do not respond until the next business day in principle" was highest among those in their 30s at 21.7%. "Turn off notifications and do not check except in emergencies" was highest among those in their 20s at 17.7%, while other age groups remained between 11% and 15%. "Systems in place to prevent work-related contact outside business hours" ranged between 6% and 10%, highest among those in their 30s at 10.8%.

The tendency to reply depending on the situation increases from the 20s to the 40s, peaking in the 40s, while turning off notifications is most common among those in their 20s.

"Do Not Respond Until Next Business Day" Highest Among Hybrid Workers at 19.1%

By work arrangement, "Check the content and reply outside working hours depending on the situation" was highest among fully remote workers at 40.3% (Figure 3), followed by hybrid workers at 38.4% and full office attendance at 35.9%.

"Receive notifications but do not respond until the next business day in principle" was highest among hybrid workers at 19.1%, the highest among the three arrangements, followed by full office attendance at 14.5% and fully remote at 12.2%. "Turn off notifications and do not check except in emergencies" was highest among fully remote workers at 15.1%, followed by hybrid at 13.9% and full office attendance at 12.9%. "Systems in place to prevent work-related contact outside business hours" was highest among full office attendees at 13.5%, followed by fully remote at 11.5% and hybrid at 4.6%.

"Systems in place to prevent work-related contact outside business hours" was highest among full office attendees at 13.5%, followed by fully remote at 11.5% and hybrid at 4.6%, with an 8.9-point gap between highest and lowest.

Gender Differences Small; Only "Turning Off Notifications" 3.8 Points Higher Among Women

By gender, "Check the content and reply outside working hours depending on the situation" was nearly equal: 37.9% among men and 37.4% among women (Figure 4).

"Receive notifications but do not respond until the next business day in principle" was 16.7% among men and 16.1% among women. "Turn off notifications and do not check except in emergencies" was 11.9% among men and 15.7% among women—a 3.8-point advantage for women. "Systems in place to prevent work-related contact outside business hours" was 8.8% among men and 9.0% among women.

Except for a 3.8-point higher rate among women for turning off notifications, gender differences in all other responses were less than 1 percentage point.

Summary: "Reply Depending on Situation" Highest Among 40s; Hybrid Workers More Likely to "Wait Until Next Business Day"; Small Gender Differences

Responses to after-hours communication vary by age. "Check the content and reply outside working hours depending on the situation" increased from 28.7% among those in their 20s to peak at 41.4% among those in their 40s.

Work arrangements also influence responses. "Receive notifications but do not respond until the next business day in principle" was highest among hybrid workers at 19.1%, the highest among the three arrangements.

Gender differences were minimal. Except for a 3.8-point higher rate among women for turning off notifications, differences were under 1 percentage point—e.g., 37.9% among men vs. 37.4% among women for "Check the content and reply outside working hours depending on the situation".

Detailed Report

A detailed report with further analysis based on this survey is available at:

Survey on After-Hours Communication During Telework

https://lassic.co.jp/teleremo/remote-work-after-hours-contact/

For Those Requesting Survey Data

We offer survey data—including results from this survey—on telework and remote work public opinion surveys free of charge to media-operating companies.

Please inquire via the link below:

https://lassic.co.jp/teleremo/document-request/

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About Telerimo Soken

Telerimo Soken aims to make telework and remote work a common option in workstyles, working toward a world where people can thrive regardless of location affecting their job roles, types, or employment conditions. We deliver information focused on diverse ways of working.

Telerimo Soken Official Website: https://lassic.co.jp/teleremo/

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About LASSIC Co., Ltd. (LASSIC)

Founded in Tottori Prefecture in 2006, LASSIC holds the vision of "Leading the remote society and contributing to society through borderless work." Through services such as "Remogu (Remogu) Freelance", a remote-work-specialized job agency for freelance IT engineers (https://remogu.jp), and "Relasic", a remote-work-specialized job placement agency for IT engineers (https://relasic.jp), LASSIC works to promote borderless practices in "recruitment" and "digital transformation (DX)".

Company Overview

Tokyo Head Office

6F, NBF Takanawa Building, 1-3-13 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0074

Tottori Head Office

3-201-3 Minamikata, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture 680-0843

Representative

President and CEO Koji Wakayama

Founded

December 26, 2006

Capital

99.68 million yen

Services

Talent services specialized in remote work: "Remogu", "Relasic"; Telework and Remote Work Comprehensive Research Institute; IT solutions (system integration)

URL

https://lassic.co.jp