Last year, we wrote about email software company Xobni’s survey that showed that going completely offline from email over the holidays is a thing of the past. And this year’s survey from Xobni reports that even more adults will be checking email over the holidays.
According to the survey 79 percent of U.S. working adults have received work-related emails on the holidays; and 68 percent plan to check emails during Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.
Of these, more than one in four (27%) do so multiple times throughout the day (that will be me). Additionally, a comparison with last year’s survey results shows that men are checking email less than they were last year (58% in 2011 vs 67% in 2010) and that the gender gap is closing with respect to checking email on holidays. Last year, 67 percent of men admitted to checking on holidays and 50 percent of women compared to 58 percent men and 51 percent women in 2011.
And less people (37 percent) feel annoyed, frustrated or resentful after receiving work-related emails on holidays than last year. Many people welcome email during family time with 19 percent of those that ever received work emails from a colleague while off for the holiday cited feeling “thankful for the distraction” or “relieved.”
Forty-one percent of those that check work email while they have time off for the holidays believe that staying up-to-date on email eases their workloads once they return from break.
One in ten (10 percent) of respondents ages 18-44 stated that they did so while spending time with friends or relatives at Holiday parties/gatherings or during meals or another “inappropriate” time. Better yet, some (6 percent) admitted to using work email as a way to avoid awkward family/holiday commitments and ”crazy” friends and/or relatives.
Photo Credit/Flickr/StereroGab