Despite fears that workers are increasingly tied to their jobs, a survey from eWEEK Europe UK has revealed that over a quarter (29 percent) of IT pros do no email at all while on holiday, while others have their mobile working well under control.
The online publication designed for the new era of IT, ran its last opinion poll to mark the end of the 2011 summer holiday season, and to highlight the types of break IT pros took during that period. Commenting on the survey, Peter Judge, editor at eWeek Europe UK, said:
“During the summer months, surveys traditionally prove that British workers are tied to their jobs, and have to spend hours every day on email even while they are officially on holiday – despite every expert agreeing that this is a ‘bad thing’.”
On the flipside, the poll did also reveal that 23 percent of respondents are either too busy to have gone away this year, or are saving leave days until later in the year. Peter Judge added:
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“Perhaps those IT workers are holding out for an Indian summer? Or the fact that they haven’t taken holiday could be a sign of the recession – as people continue to question their job security.”
Additional findings highlighted by the survey include:
• 14 percent of respondents do half an hour or less of work per day while on holiday.
• Aggregating the options, and removing those who haven’t had a holiday, eWeek Europe UK found that two thirds (66 percent) of those who have had a break logged in less than once a day, while 34 percent did some work each day.
Peter Judge concluded: “We sympathise with those IT workers who decided it was worth not taking a complete break, in order to return to a tidy in-box. But, overall, we were very impressed to see such high numbers opting to simply switch off during summer 2011.”
