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Netsetting Northerners

Brits from the north of England are the most likely to be found working on holiday.

A recent poll by online freelance marketplace PeoplePerHour has revealed that northerners are most likely to work when on holiday. Brits from the south worked on average 30 minutes of every day when on holiday, while those in the north worked up to 1.5 hours of each day.

The research, sourced from over 2100 British workers, found that two thirds of those surveyed (66%) admitted to doing some work on family holidays and one in five (21%) tried to hide it from their families and partners. It also revealed that Mancunians topped the list of hardest holiday workers and in total seven out of ten of the hotspots were in the north of England.

1. Manchester
2. Liverpool
3. London
4. Oxford
5. Birmingham
6. York
7. Hull
8. Sunderland
9. Bolton
10. Bristol

Bottom of the list were Southampton, Edinburgh and Brighton all working less than 15 minutes a day when away from work on leave.

24-30 year olds were the least likely to switch off from work, with 80% of those surveyed saying they were unable to let go completely, while those 50 and over were most likely to have a work-free day when on holiday.

The data also revealed the professions most likely to take their laptop on holiday:

1. PAs
2. Lawyers
3. Marketing Execs

Of those surveyed, 34% have worked from their hotel or villa in the evenings, 22% from the poolside and an impressive 12% managed to get some work done at the beach. 7% admitted to having completed some work with a holiday hangover. 60% of those surveyed said they checked wifi availability at their accommodation of choice with work in mind.

When asked what was the main motivation behind working on holiday, many workers said they were willing to sacrifice a fully work free holiday because of worries about job security (21%), in the interest of a pay rise (17%) or because of pressure from their managers to be available (9%). Types of work undertaken ranged from dialing in to board meetings, reporting, client calls and most frequently, emails.

Xenios Thrasyvoulou, founder and CEO of PeoplePerHour comments: “It seems that with the advent of smartphones and tablets we are less and less able to turn off from work even on holiday. Worrying about wifi, constantly checking emails and even sitting in on conference calls seem to be part and parcel of some modern holidays.” “While it’s admirable and in some cases even necessary it’s important to make sure we disconnect and take some down time. It’s better for mental health, enjoyment of your job and life outside of work.”

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