High Tech Holidays Add to Stress

Wednesday 28th July 2010 9:58am

EMPLOYEES returning from holiday can return to work more stressed than when they left because of the increasing accessibility of technology, experts warn.

UniSA Centre for Work + Life director Professor Barbara Pocock said technology was increasingly encroaching on personal, family and holiday time.

She said this was particularly evident after the global financial crisis with employers now "expecting more from fewer numbers of workers".

"Not taking a holiday is not good for you and your relationship with your family - and in the long run, it's not good for the employer because it makes you less productive," Professor Pocock said.

"People who are working long hours, international research tells us they are more likely to suffer form depression and cardiovascular illnesses so there are reasonable effects for people who don't get enough rest including a reasonable holiday."

A study by the Institute of Leadership and Management polled 2500 managers and found of the one-third of those work while on holidays, 80 per cent "frequently" responded to emails, about 50 per cent took calls and 10 per cent went into the office.

Flinders University health sciences senior lecturer Hugh Kearns said technology had changed the way people took breaks.

[Article in The Advertiser July 28th 2010 by Hannah Sliverman]

"The internet in part has meant the boundaries between holiday and work are more blurred," he said. "Now with the iPad and iPhone you can check emails wherever you are."

He also believed the workforce had become more competitive and employees felt they needed to work harder to keep their jobs.

Entree Recruitment general manager Nicole Underwood knows firsthand how important solid breaks are.

"We had a staff member go on holiday and during that time they didn't have access to phones and email, so they had a complete break," she said.

"They had time to totally switch off and came back completely refreshed ... she avoided that burnt-out situation and was a lot more focused."

Ms Underwood said increasingly businesses were monitoring employee holidays to ensure they took regular breaks.

To get the most out of a holiday, experts advise leaving the laptop at home and making sure clients and colleagues know you don't want to be contacted.