In a rather disconcerting find, almost one in five small business managers read work-related e-mails and other documents in the bathroom, presumably at work. It's worse that almost 50% of them said they work while driving, but the bathroom? What could be that interesting? (This study follows another one that indicated more Americans are logging wirelessly into the Internet - from their bathrooms.) The newspaper I understand. The survey of 300 small business owners (with up to 20 employees) was sponsored by Staples and conducted by International Communications Research.Here are some other findings:
* One in five (21%) work while eating dinner at least 4–5 times per week;
* More than a third (37%) could not readily remember their last vacation. Of those who did vacation, nearly half admit to working during some portion of it.
* Additionally, the pervasiveness of mobile phones and hand-held e-mail devices has only contributed to these long hours at untraditional times.
* More than two-thirds (68%) work on days off, checking e-mail, voicemail or making work-related calls;
* Two-thirds (66%) work after hours and at night;
* Half (51%) work on holidays;
* And almost half (47%) work during what is supposed to be family time.
* Generally, surveyed leaders of younger companies and those with fewer employees expressed the most lopsided work-life balance, and the vast majority (92%) characterized their workload as about the same or heavier than from a year ago.
Layer 8 is Network World's daily home for the not-just-networking news.
Contact Layer 8
Layer 8 archive
|
|
it's disconcerting, sure. In
it's disconcerting, sure. In light of the IT bloodletting that continues (now thanks to India), is anyone really surprised? People are looking for whatever edge they can get- desperately. What, you expect us worker bees to stop working when go poopoo? Sorry, we're busy honing our resumes, scanning discussion boards for tips, looking for some sign in our inbox of the cause of the scowl we got from some middle manager earlier today.
Disconcerting- you're darn right. It if surprises you, get a freakin' clue.
LOL.......(This message is
LOL.......(This message is being sent from my employers bathroom, where I'm drinking coffee, Texting, and responding to emails.....)
bloodletting...or a backalley transfusion
One thing you are wrong about—IT bloodletting is not "thanks to India"—it's thanks to Corporate America shaving a few bucks off their HR budget, at my expense and yours. India, Malaysia, Singapore, et al are simply the foci of corporate opportunists at this point in time. It's an ideal situation for American companies, as outsourcing to southeast Asia (or elsewhere, for that matter) relieves them of the obligation of paying workers what, by American standards, is a living wage. Plus, certain taxes can be avoided, no workers compensation premiums need be paid...and the list goes on.
Bottom line—every day it becomes clearer that we are bending over backwards for corporate interests, who are so quick to be rid of us as soon as it's convenient or profitable. Americans already spend a greater percentage of their day working than workers anywhere else in the world, save Japan, yet we continue to let work dominate our lives, to the extent we're typing emails with one hand, and eating dinner with the other. The only way this will ever change is if we refuse en-masse to take work home with us, work for free, and the endless other things we do, ostensibly as 'hard work toward a goal,' or 'being marketable.' This isn't tenacity, nor is it working toward success—this is collectively rolling over and allowing oneself to be exploited...
you sound like a lazy fat
you sound like a lazy fat slob minimum wage fast food employee.. Grow up! 99% of succesful people take their work home...
99%?
Seems like that implies there's room for 1% of us to be successful and not take work home...guess that whole "work smarter, not harder" crap is paying off!
Lazy like a fox!