The phrase "are essentially working" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used to describe the ongoing nature of an action or process that is fundamental or intrinsic to a situation.
Example: "The teams are essentially working together to achieve a common goal despite the challenges."
Alternatives: "are fundamentally engaged" or "are primarily collaborating".
From now until the end of the year the gender pay gap means that women are essentially working for free.
There is simply too much "noise" in the data, especially for higher performing students, who are essentially working year after year at their full capacity.
Mr. McCain has argued that the groups should be barred from raising unlimited "soft money" donations because they are essentially working as political committees.
We are essentially working in the public sector at the BBC and lots of people are having their pay frozen and I couldn't see any reason why I shouldn't have mine reduced a bit.
While discussing the product, the CEO noted the difficulty in distinguishing its devices, given the fact that all hardware producers – Apple included – are essentially working with the same technologies and constraints.
People who are essentially working two jobs -- taking care of their work responsibilities and trying to process what is happening in the world around them.
"They're essentially working to replace film with ink.
In one taped conversation, Beavers said Lee was "essentially working for King".
They were essentially working against the dimensions -- trying to fit the pieces into a snug rotunda whose size had been shrunken by interior scaffolding and metal supports.
Last year's meeting in Lima ran more than 36 hours over time – and negotiators were essentially working on a document intended mainly as a holding position.
Although he's essentially working with the elements of a locked-room mystery, Doherty cloaks his technique in the morbid trappings of the Theban death industry.
