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Workers ‘struggle to switch off’

28 April 2011

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A “culture of hyper-connectivity” is making it difficult for workers to switch off from the office, a survey suggest.

Forty-two percent of 2,000 workers who were polled said they found it hard to switch off from work after leaving the office.

Meanwhile some 27% admitted to working from their bedroom or lounge if they worked from home rather than having a dedicated office space.

The survey, by serviced office operator Business Environment, found one in five employees now works from home once a week.

Some 46% said they thought it was acceptable to use their business phones and emails to run their personal lives.

David Saul, Managing Director of Business Environment, warned that the UK is becoming a “culture of hyper-connnectivity”.

He said: “Work is now only a smartphone away. Although this enables us to respond to client emails and calls when and where it suits us, we risk being unable to tear ourselves away from the workplace.”

However, not everyone agrees that mobile technology is a good thing, with 24% admitting that they felt cut off from work colleagues.

Copyright © Press Association 2011