Generation ‘standby’ on the increase
One in five people would turn down a job offer that
restricts social media access at work
Research has brought to the fore the rise of a new
group of workers – ‘generation standby‘ who never seem to fully switch off from
work or home. Generation Standby are so attuned to this way of working that
even in these economically challenging times, one fifth (21 percent) would turn
down a job that did not allow them to access social networking sites or
personal email during work time.
The characteristics of this
group is that they are regularly ‘home-ing’ from work due to the increased
pressure to work longer hours, regularly carrying out social and private tasks
at work. The trend is most pronounced amongst 25 – 34 year olds, with 57
percent undertaking personal tasks such as checking social networks, email,
online shopping at work. Although 66% of all employees say they make up the
time they spend using the internet for personal reasons by working later or
through lunch. And it is men who are more likely to ‘home from work’ than
women:
- Social networking sites: 48 percent men vs 36
percent of women - Checking personal email: 69 percent of men vs 54
percent of women - Shopping online: 34 percent of men vs 20 percent
of women - Social networking and Web 2.0 key to employee
morale
Whilst the majority of
employees are willing to be flexible when it comes to longer hours or different
hours, as the business demands, they do expect some ‘give’ in return:
-
79 percent respondents said over and above job role and pay, the most important
things to them in a job included being trusted to manage their own time, and
being trusted to use the internet as they wish -
62 percent of employees feel they should be able to access web / social
networking content from their work computer for personal reasons (compared to
51 percent of managers) in order to complete ‘home-ing from work’ tasks.
The research was carried out
by Clearswift. Hilary Backwell Global HR Director said: “Call it multi-tasking
or life-splicing but increasingly, fuelled by advances in technology, employees
are blurring the boundaries between home and work. What this report has shown
is that ‘Generation Standby’ employees are now enjoying, and expecting, greater
levels of flexibility and mobility than ever before – but this cultural shift
raises new questions about trust in the workplace, the use of new technologies,
the balance of power in the employer vs. employee relationship and levels of
control that businesses now have over people and content.”
20 May 2010
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