Office Research Round-Up, September 2009, Part Two

Work-life balance ‘all wrong,’ says Office Angels

A survey of 1,000 adults commissioned by recruitment agency Office Angels has indicated that work increasingly takes precedence over the personal lives of Britons. The research also suggests that office workers often know more about their colleagues than they do about their partners.

Amongst the findings:

• One in ten said they would rather confide in a work colleague about personal problems than tell their partners.
• Around one in five admitted to spending more time preparing for their annual review than for a romantic dinner at home.
• Five per cent had cancelled a date because of work commitments.
• One in five admitted that work had taken precedence over their personal lives in the past year.

According to David Clubb, managing director of Office Angels, British office workers had got the balance between their jobs and home lives “all wrong.”

“It is encouraging to see that so many office workers have a close relationship with their colleagues,” he said.

“But, while maintaining a good working relationship with your co-workers is important, so is your home life. Simple steps such as leaving work on time twice a week or meeting your partner after work for dinner can help achieve a good balance.”

Brits not taking enough breaks

In keeping with earlier research this year on the subject, a Lyons Coffee survey of 1,000 office workers has found that Britons are depriving themselves of some 7.3 million hours of break time per year. The research was commissioned to highlight the importance of breaks.

Half of us take less than half an hour on average for lunch while only 29% leave the office every day for lunch. Seventy-eight percent of British workers feel that their lunch breaks are the shortest they have ever been.

Some of this time is reclaimed with three-quarters of us taking coffee breaks during the working day for, amongst other things, chatting with work colleagues (44%), getting a few personal jobs done, such as online banking (16%), thinking a work idea through (12%) and emailing friends or family (10%). According to the research, some 12.8 million office workers make a coffee in their break.

The vast majority (95%) of us feel that thoughts are clearer and that we are able to tackle work with fresh perspective and new energy following a break.

Over a third of online shopping done at the office

Data from global market research company comScore.com confirms a rising trend of office workers buying products online at offices rather than at homes. The May 2009 data collated from the firm’s World Metrix service showed eight out of ten internet users who have accessed the internet in the UK visited an online retail website.

Almost one-third of all the online purchases in the UK, as well as quarter of the overall visits, pages surfed and time spent on the retail websites, were carried out at work.