While most people feel that their smartphones make it easier to work away from their desks, they also work more hours.
According to recent statistics that were released by Angus Reid, the majority of Canadians feel that their mobile technology makes it possible for them to live their lives with greater flexibility, but at the same time, they also end up working longer hours as a result of it.
This situation is becoming a great deal more typical in Canada, as smartphones allow people to work more.
At the same time that mobile technology provides people with voice, text, and email communication virtually anywhere at any time, it also means that they are reachable at all times, when they are needed for work tasks – whether they are at work or not. The Angus Reid survey showed that approximately 41 percent of the people who participated in the study indicated that they check their emails outside of their office hours. Additionally 10 percent actually respond to those emails, phone, or text after work hours.
The mobile technology poll ran online and involved the participation of 1,508 people in Canada.
The results of the survey were of particular interest in that country, when they were released, as five of the provinces were headed toward a long weekend – one in which many people would be working regardless of whether or not they were technically “at home”. Equally, among the survey respondents, the majority said that they did not mind this intrusion into their lives.
Sixty five percent of the participants said that their mobile devices were “vital” to their ability to do their jobs. What Angus Reid determined, therefore, was that while people do seem to be slaves to their mobile gadgets, they also don’t seem to mind.
According to a senior vice president at the firm, Shachi Kurl, with regards to the mobile technology study, “The take-away here is yes, we are tethered to our devices, especially those of us who work in the creative sector or knowledge sectors,” adding that “Your work is always with you, but the results bear out that people are saying ‘I don’t have a problem with that.’”