Mike Andrew Consulting

Laptops, phones intrude on home time

By mike, Nov 21 in blog with 0 comments

Australians work some of the longest hours in the developed world, with many feeling obliged to do extra work because their employer has supplied them with mobile phones and laptops, new research says.

The study by the left-leaning Australia Institute terms this extra work ‘polluted time’, as work increasingly intrudes on leisure.

Institute deputy director Josh Fear said seven out of eight survey respondents with a work device provided by their employer said they had worked outside of normal hours in the past week, compared to around half of those without a device.

‘Many workers consider their laptops and smartphones as a perk of their job, but those same devices can also invade free time,’ he said in a statement.

‘Australians already work some of the longest hours in the developed world and technology often exacerbates the problem rather than relieving it by making people perpetually on-call.’

The Australia Institute conducted this research for its third Go Home On Time Day, to be held on Wednesday November 30.

The day aims to raise awareness of the extent of overwork in Australia and the important workplace, health and social consequences.

The survey, conducted in July, asked 1384 Australians (845 of whom were in paid work) about their work practices.

Twenty-three per cent said working at home outside normal hours was expected, while 15 per cent said they often needed to. The higher the pay, the more likely work would intrude on home time.

Only eight per cent said working outside normal hours was discouraged.

More than half of those surveyed said they weren’t paid extra for this additional work.

Twenty-four per cent said their employer had provided some form of technology, such as a phone or laptop, allowing them to work outside the workplace.

The survey said these people were twice as likely to say they often needed to work outside normal hours, with email the most common intrusion – more than phone calls, meetings or travel.

Most workers aren’t happy about this, with 64 per cent reporting it made it more difficult to enjoy free time. Just 10 per cent said it was never a problem.

The Australia Institute said the findings suggested that some 6.8 million out of a total workforce of 11.4 million experienced some degree of time pollution in any given week.

‘What is certain is that some workers who were happy with their work/life balance a decade ago are now less satisfied with the expectations of their job because certain technologies that contribute to polluted time simply did not exist until relatively recently.’

New research says mobile phones and laptops have ‘polluted time’, as work increasingly intrudes on leisure.

Story source: www.bigpond.com

About the author

Mike Andrew has been working with the Internet and small business for over 12 years. Mike has been a keynote speaker at conventions and seminars and conducted social media training sessions all over the world. Mike has an extensive media background having worked in electronic media for over 30 years. Mike specialises in social media and Internet marketing strategy, SEO techniques and search engine marketing campaigns. His articles appear on numerous blogs around the web as well as national magazines.