Member Article

20m Brits take work on holiday

Most people take work with them on holiday, partly because it is so easy to be contacted by phone or computer, a new study has found. 20 million Brits think it’s necessary to take their work on holiday with them, a survey by AlphaRooms.com has revealed. Two thirds of those questioned by the online travel company admitted to having their holidays interrupted by work, while 80 per cent said they worried about their work while they were abroad.

The AlphaRooms.com survey also found that a third of people take their laptops or Blackberries on holiday, while three-quarters have made or taken a work telephone call while on holiday and 60 per cent have sent a work-related email.

Gareth Hockey, AlphaRooms.com’s online marketing manager, said: “Unfortunately the downside of the communication age in which we live is that we are rarely ever truly out of contact. Even when on holiday it’s all too easy to make a work telephone call, send an email or even take our Blackberry or laptop to the beach. Holidays should be a time of total rest and relaxation, when work and the stress of day to day life is completely left behind.”

Neil Shah, Director of The Stress Management Society, said: “The purpose of a holiday is to remove yourself from the work environment which is often the cause of stress and it defeats the purpose if you take that work and that stress with you. “People should try where possible to leave their phones and computers behind, spend a few days without electromagentic frequencies interfering with their brains and instead trying to unwind, perhaps by lying on a beach, walking, having a massage or swimming to de-stress.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .