Survey Finds a Balance of Work and Personal Time during Holidays

December 1, 2010 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - American workers plan to juggle work and play by staying connected to the office while they simultaneously celebrate the season, according to a holiday Omnibus survey from Adecco Staffing US.

During their off-hours, either scheduled vacation time or employer holidays, 71% of workers whose jobs require the use of e-mail and voicemail regularly plan to stay connected to the workplace. On the other hand, nearly half of American workers (46%) plan to make a dent in their holiday shopping during work hours — either through online shopping while at work, shopping on lunch breaks, taking sick days or cutting out a little early periodically.  

According to a press release, the survey found that among working Americans who rely on e-mail and voicemail for their job, men (80%) are more likely to say they will check work voicemail/e-mail on the specific holidays than women (60%). Similarly, those with children in their household (77%) are more likely to check work voicemail/e-mail on holidays than are households without children (65%).   

Americans who live in the Western part of the U.S. (20%) are more likely to do holiday shopping online at work than are other U.S. residents (10%). In addition, those who live in Metro areas (16%) are more likely to do holiday shopping online at work compared to those in non-Metro areas (7%).   

Other survey results include: 

  • Despite the economy, 36% of employees think their companies’ holiday parties will be similar to those from past years.  
  • One in ten (11%) Americans work for companies that held a holiday party last year and plan to hold one again this year — just on a smaller scale.  
  • A third of Americans polled are employed by a company that has never held a holiday party. 
  • Women (28%) are slightly more likely than men (21%) to have taken a holiday job specifically for spending cash for holiday gifts. 

 

The survey was conducted via telephone within the United States by Opinion Research Corporation on behalf of Adecco from November 11 – November 14, 2010, among 1,011 employed American adults ages 18 and older.

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