Survey shows business owners taking calls in unusual places
A national survey of small business owners by Moneypenny, the UK’s leading outsourced communications provider, found that business owners are taking calls in unusual places as it becomes the norm for working life to be always on:
- 23 per cent of those surveyed said they have taken work calls on the toilet
- 17 per cent have taken calls in bed
- 10 per cent have taken calls while in the bath
It is the older generation who are more likely to take a call on the toilet: 31 per cent of 45-54s, compared to 16 per cent of 25-34s.
Some of the most unusual places for taking a business call included: on a camel in Fuerteventura, in a submarine and at a urinal in a private gym.
It’s perhaps not surprising that every single minute counts as work dominates the day, as 30 per cent of small business owners surveyed said they usually work more than 10 hours a day.
This is particularly marked in London where 33 per cent admit to working more than 10 hours a day, compared to just 23 per cent of West Midlanders and 27 per cent of Welsh surveyed.
Generational working hours
Across the generations, the 35-44 age group appears to be working the longest hours, with 33 per cent of them working more than 9 hours a day, while 75 per cent of business owners over the age of 55 appear to work the least, with 75 per cent working less than nine hours a day.
It would seem, however, that longer hours are not necessarily smarter hours, as 51 per cent of those surveyed felt that customer service suffers because of long hours worked.
With what little leisure time is available, small business owners are finding it hard to disconnect from work during their time off.
The survey found that 50 per cent said they spend fewer than five hours a week unconnected to their work.
The survey was conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Moneypenny, by a telephone omnibus survey of 750 small business owners nationwide in April.
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