Monsterís Poll Reveals That 39% of European Workers Surveyed Never Let Work Creep into Their Weekend

Monsterís most recent poll of workersí attitudes across Europe has found despite many employees and employers embracing more flexible working practices during the week, it seems our weekends are still mostly set aside for leisure rather than work.

With the average European worker spending more than 40 hours a week working, Monster Meter recently asked 7,268 European workers ìHow often do you work at the weekend?î and the overall results revealed the following:

20% (1,470 votes) ìMy job means I have to work at weekendsî
12% (903 votes) ìEvery weekend (outside of normal working hours)î
9% (652 votes) ìOnce a monthî
20% (1,425 votes) ìA few times a yearî
39% (2,818 votes) ìNever! My weekend is sacred.î

While office hours may be getting longer, the Monster Meter poll suggests many workers limit their work to weekdays. A majority of employees in France, Belgium, UK and Ireland view the weekends as especially ísacredí, with 40%, 41%, 43% and 45% (respectively) of workers reporting never working on a Saturday or Sunday, the highest amongst all the countries polled.

The highest reporting of regularly working weekends in addition to their normal hours came from respondents in Germany (16%), Switzerland (14%) and Austria (13%).

ìOur poll shows that, even with an expanded definition of normal working hours, 59% of respondents across Europe still ensure work does not interfere with their weekends,î said Steve Pogorzelski, Group President, International, Monster Worldwide.

For the 20% who do work weekends regularly, and who may feel overwhelmed by their workload, the Monster website can help with plenty of useful tips on how to improve work/life balance, concluded Pogorzelski.

Of those polled, 23% Austrian workers said they work weekends a few times a year, closely followed by 21% of French and German workers.

The UK had the highest percentage (26%) of respondents whose jobs meant they always work weekends. This was followed by 23% in Ireland and 22% in Austria. France showed the lowest percentage in this category, with only 15% responding that their jobs demanded weekend working.

The results of the current Monster Meter are based on votes cast by Monster.com visitors from 2nd to 16th February 2007. Only one vote per user is counted toward the final tabulation. The Monster Meter, a product of Monster, the leading global online careers website and flagship brand of Monster Worldwide Inc., is a series of online polls that gauge usersí opinions on a variety of topics relating to careers, the economy and the workplace. Anyone interested in voting in Monsterís current online poll may do so by logging onto www.monster.co.uk.