Slack breaks user record as millions work from home

It peaked at 12.5 million concurrent users yesterday.

What you need to know

• Slack has unsurprisingly broken its user record.
• It reached 12.5 million concurrent users on March 25.
• The move comes as millions of workers take to working remotely during the coronavirus pandemic.

Slack saw its concurrent user figure reach 12.5 million yesterday, breaking its record as millions turn to working from home.

As reported by The Verge:

Microsoft Teams isn't the only business-focused chat and communications app that's seeing a spike in demand. Slack is revealing today that it has hit new user records for simultaneously connected users, thanks to a surge in demand for remote working amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

On Tuesday, March 10th, Slack saw concurrent users pass 10 million, which then jumped to 10.5 million six days later on March 16th before reaching 12.5 million yesterday. Slack isn't revealing a total count of daily active users during this period, only simultaneously connected users.

As the report notes, Microsoft Teams has also seen a huge increase in demand, recording 44 million daily active users earlier in March.

Slack also recently overhauled its design with a brand new UI described by its VP as "the largest redesign in Slack's history." Recently, Slack was rolled out to all 330,000 of IBM's employees, IBM is Slack's biggest customer.

Of course, the coronavirus pandemic has forced may employers and employees to turn to remote working. Some employers adapted the measures early out of caution, however in many parts of the world, all but "essential" workers now find themselves housebound. It emerged yesterday that the shift is also driving demand for hardware, including Apple's latest products based on its new scissor mechanism keyboard, notably the recently announced iPad Pro and the new MacBook Air.