Two thirds (64%) of British workers canít resist ëchecking iní with the office whilst on their Summer break according to new research released today (i). The survey, conducted by professional recruitment consultancy, Harvey Nash, revealed itís not necessity, but curiosity keeping us glued to our email, with most workers logging on just to ësee how things are goingí.
Of the 2,000 senior executives surveyed most admitted to being ëSunday Surfersí, regularly checking in with work on the weekend as well as on holiday. Two fifths (40%) work at least one weekend a month with one in ten (9%) working three or more. Respondents put their out-of-hours working down to increasing work and stress loads ñ one quarter (27%) admitted to feeling out of control in their job at least once a month with one in ten (11%) feeling stressed at least once a week.
Rather than helping the problem, mobile technology is making it worse with 40% of senior executives claiming Blackberries and other mobile devices have had a negative effect on their work-life balance. Employers donít seem to be helping much either ñ one in two workers (48%) claim their company is ëunsupportiveí in terms of providing a healthy balance between work and home life with only 15% claiming to receive full support from their employer.
Commenting on the findings Albert Ellis, CEO, Harvey Nash, said: ìThereís no doubt that weíre all receiving more emails and more demands on our time than ever before. But constant checking in and regular weekend working is a false economy ñ if you donít take a proper break your productivity is bound to suffer in the long run. Employers need to set reasonable expectations, but employees too need to take responsibility for their own work-life balance. If
youíre always on, youíll always be expected to be on ñ better to prioritise and avoid the temptation to check for checkingís sake.î
Brits spend Summer hols surfing their inbox
UK execs fail to ëswitch offí according to new survey from Harvey Nash
