Home
Mobiles
Mobiles News
US workers have love hate relationship with their smartphones while on vacation: Report

US workers have love-hate relationship with their smartphones while on vacation: Report

By Reuters | Updated: 26 June 2013 17:10 IST

More than half of US workers would prefer a root canal than to work during vacation, but they cave in to bosses' demands by using mobile technology on their down time, a new Harris poll showed.

Mobile devices let people stay connected with work 24/7, which is both "revolutionary and a curse," said Terrie Campbell, vice president, strategic marketing at the global technology company Ricoh Americas, which commissioned the poll.

Nearly three out of four Americans admitted they would be angry if they lost their smartphone on vacation because they wouldn't be able to check in at work, the online survey released on Tuesday showed.

"At some point, employees need permission to turn off the work email, relax and re-charge while they're on vacation," Campbell said. "If they can't leave the office behind, what's the point of vacation?"

The poll of 2,071 US adults showed that Americans struggle to take real time off from work, with 30 percent using their smartphone for work-related purposes while relaxing at their favorite vacation spot.

About 51 percent of US adults would rather have a root canal than work while on vacation, but 54 percent said their bosses expected them to stay connected during their time away.

About 67 percent said family members get upset when a loved one works while on vacation.

Twenty-seven percent also said they can access work files from a remote location and a similar number use their phone to keep in touch with clients and coworkers.

On a more positive note, more than six out of 10 people said checking emails while on holiday makes it easier to ease themselves back into work when the vacation is over.

And a similar number of people thought mobile technology has made their work-life balance better, not worse.

© Thomson Reuters 2013

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.