- 69% of millennial respondents (18 to 34 years old) said that their employers expect them to be available outside of their regular working hours.
- 80% of millennials would only reply to work-related calls and messages at a convenient time.
- 68% of mature workers (55 years old and above) tend to respond to work-related calls and messages immediately.
Ms. Jaya Dass, Managing Director, Singapore and Malaysia at Randstad said, “We’ve observed that younger workers prefer to wind down after leaving the office, and log back on later when they have some time to reply to emails and text messages. Unless there are urgent work-related matters to attend to, millennials will also usually only reply to shorter emails that do not require them to switch on their laptops again.”
working while on vacation - yay or nay?
Even when they are on annual leave and out of town, millennials feel pressured to work. 57% of millennial respondents said that they respond to work-related calls and messages, whereas only 36% of mature workers do so.
Dass explains, “As digital natives, millennials are always accessing work emails and messages on their smartphones, even when they are on annual leave. Younger workers also tend to work on multiple projects at any one time. Therefore, they may feel that it is important for them to stay on top of work even when they are on vacation. However, mature workers usually have a team of employees who will continue to work on projects or be responsible for managing the day-to-day operations, which explains why they may not feel the need to log on when they are on leave. We recommend employees to keep work to a minimum when they are on holiday, as it is important for their well-being that they take the time to re-energise and refresh themselves.”