After-hours meetings are on the rise. AI could make things even worse

Videoconferencing tools, more global teams, and greater pressure on workers are pushing meetings later into the day—and it’s unclear if AI will improve the situation.

[Photo: Maria Korneeva/Getty Images]

After-hours meetings have gone from rare to regular occurrences, and while some are hoping AI can help reverse the trend, experts warn breaking the habit will take more than tech.

In a recent survey conducted by AI-powered workspace provider Miro, 33% of US-based knowledge workers said they frequently attended after-hours meetings in 2025, up from 23% in 2024.

“Six in 10 people attend meetings after hours at least once a month, and that has all kinds of negative downstream effects,” says Dom Katz, Miro’s ways of working lead. “The data suggests more and more people consistently have meetings after their usual workday ends, and it’s getting worse; not just in the U.S. or Europe, but across the board.”

Katz explains that the explosion in after-hours meetings is likely an extension of the rise in meetings more broadly. According to a 2025 study by Miro, for each hour a worker spends on “momentum work”—like brainstorming, collaborative workshops and interactive cross functional projects—they spend three more on maintenance tasks, like emails, paperwork and meetings. “It creates stress, it’s a productivity drain, and saps them off their creativity,” Katz says.

Katz explains that scheduling and video conferencing technology has made it easier than ever to call a meeting. But he also warns that without proper guidelines, workers are likely to get stuck in a lot of unnecessary meetings, during and beyond standard operating hours. 

“Bad meeting hygiene is definitely a contributor,” he says. “You get into the meeting, there’s no agenda, they run over constantly, there’s no decisions made, so you get another meeting around it; it’s incredibly ineffective.”

Why We’re Meeting More at Night

The Miro data is consistent with Microsoft’s 2025 Work Trend Index, which found that meetings after 8 p.m. increased 16% from the previous year. According to that study, which was based on anonymized Microsoft Teams user data, the bulk of the increase was attributed to global and flexible teams.

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