Survey to examine changing Christmas holiday working patterns
According to a new research,one-third of office workers in the UK are expected to log on to work and check emails on the Christmas Eve.
TLF Research for technology firm eShare, conducted the online survey of 1,000 employees to examine changing Christmas holiday working patterns and habits.
The research found that 20 per cent would log on to work every day during the Christmas holidays, while 7 per cent said they would do so multiple times every day. About 47 per cent of those surveyed said they were expected to work and check emails on Christmas Eve.
“The way many of us live and work now, means that taking a complete break from the office is neither desirable nor practical for a great number of people,” said Alister Esam, CEO, eShare.
“While traditionalists might lament the changing Christmas work habits, if it helps people relax to quickly check urgent email, or even take time from the festivities to draft an urgent document, then is there really a problem with that?”
“The research results would suggest that some business executives are simply not fans of Christmas. 14% said they worked at Christmas because they get bored, while 15% said working gives them a chance to sneak away from their family for a bit.”
“However, in results that highlighted the ‘always on’ and 24/7 culture we live in, almost half of respondents (44%) said it was less relaxing for them to be unaware of what might be happening at work. 40% of those surveyed said it was vital they knew of anything important going in the business, while 10% said they enjoy work and don’t feel the need to take a complete break.”
“It would also appear that more than a third of workers felt it was expected of them to work during the festive period. 35% said that their clients expect them to be available over Christmas and 36% said other colleagues expected it of them. 34% said they expected their colleagues also to work over Christmas. 40 per cent of those surveyed felt they were being conscientious by logging on over the festive period, while others had ulterior motives for Christmas working – 18% were using ‘presenteeism’, and wanting to show others that they were working hard,” Esam added.
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