DWP finds Copilot saves civil servants a whopping 19 minutes a day

Microsoft Copilot saved civil servants 19 minutes daily on routine tasks, according to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) research comparing users to a control group of non-users.

This finding is lower than the 26-minute saving reported by participants in a Government Digital Service research study of 20,000 civil servants published in June 2025, though that research lacked a comparison group.

A separate Department for Business and Trade trial published last September found Copilot made no discernible productivity gains, speeding up some tasks while slowing others through poor-quality outputs.

The DWP research, examined how the paid licensed version of Copilot performed across eight routine tasks. It saved the most time - 26 minutes daily - when searching for existing information, followed by summarizing information, writing emails, and producing written material. It saved the least time (9 minutes daily) transcribing or summarizing meetings.

Copilot users primarily redirected time saved toward completing other ...