A new study reports that 76% of workers would use more of their paid time off if artificial intelligence could reliably help them catch up on work when they return.
The figure comes from Zoom’s Out of Office Index, a survey Morning Consult conducted that examined how knowledge workers experience time away from work. The research points to a familiar tension. Employees want rest, but many dread the pile of email, decisions and tasks waiting for them afterwards.
According to the study, 61% of workers dread the workload waiting after paid leave and 48% feel anxious even before their leave begins. More than half, 57%, left some paid leave unused over the past year, and 42% considered skipping time off because of work-related stress. Around 65% said they put in extra hours before going on leave to stay ahead.
Workers also signalled strong interest in AI support around their absence. The study found 82% want AI-generated summaries of what they missed, 80% want recaps of decisions made while they were away, and 79% want an AI-built task list for their first day back.
For India, the backdrop is a workforce that already under-uses its leave. A Deel analysis of 2025 data found the median leave taken by Indian workers was 12 days, and that only 17.2% used their full entitlement, the lowest share in the Asia Pacific region. Burnout is climbing in parallel. An Indeed India survey found 72% of employees reported feeling burned out in their current role, up from 58% in 2022.
Because the Zoom study covers global knowledge workers rather than an India-specific sample, its numbers don’t map directly onto Indian workplaces. Its core finding still speaks to a live problem here, where always-on client cycles and hybrid work have blurred the line between on and off.
The data suggests that leave policy alone doesn’t drive rest. Whether AI catch-up tools change behaviour, or simply raise the expectation of staying reachable, is what HR teams will be watching next.
