NSW: Technology extending working hours: survey

AAP General News (Australia)
12-04-2006
NSW: Technology extending working hours: survey

SYDNEY, Dec 4 AAP - Technological advance in the workplace was supposed to free up
workers and provide more flexibility to their lives.

But according to a survey conducted by job website CareerOne.com.au, computers, mobile
phones and email have become a millstone around most employee's necks, breaking down the
traditional barrier between work and home life.

The survey of 1,021 people found that 72 per cent of respondents were working longer
hours than five years ago, with 66 per cent saying they worked more than 40 hours a week.

Technology was seen by respondents as the major culprit for the change.

Email had increased the work load, 56 per cent of those surveyed said, while 72 per
cent admitted checking work related emails on weekends or holidays.

The simple phone had also impacted on people's personal lives, with 79 per cent saying
they regularly took work calls outside of business hours.

Baby boomers were the worst offenders, with 90 per cent admitting to checking emails,
taking calls or thinking about work outside of the office.

CareerOne.com.au editor Kate Southam said technology was easing work out of the office,
and into people's personal lives.

"People are not saying `I'm leaving the office, it's the end of the business day',"

Ms Southam said.

"They're saying `I'll pop in the earpiece and have a few phone calls on the way home,
I'll respond to a couple of emails at home. People have no way of having a nice neat line
in the sand between work and their non-work life."

Ms Southam said the survey highlighted the need for employees to achieve a better work-life
balance.

Productivity and the health of employees would be affected unless they switched off, she said.

"Employers have a role to play here by discouraging after hours communication and definitely
putting a stop to unpaid weekend work," she said.

"A well-balanced person is better for everyone."

Employees also needed to extricate themselves from the mobile office, she said.

"You need to do whatever you need to do to get over your obsession, if you want to
have personal relationships, and you want to have your health, if you want to be a person
that has other interests," she said.

In another survey released today by communications company Citrix Online, 74 per cent
of the 468 full-time workers questioned said they had to go to the office on their days
off or holidays, while 69 per cent said they were expected to be accessible during personal
time.

But unlike the CareerOne.com.au survey, Citrix Online said the problem could be solved
by improving the technological assistance needed to work from home.

"(Employers) are expecting their employees to be available over breaks like Christmas,
and yet failing to equip them to do these jobs remotely ... leading to widespread employee
discontent," the company said.

AAP ab/klw/maur/nf

KEYWORD: WORK SURVEY

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.