Does Social Media Make Taking Time Off Harder?

Summer is almost here, and that means vacation time for many employees. Or does it?

The US has the highest percentage of mobile workers in its workforce, according to February 2010 data from IDC, with 75.5% of the workforce, or 119.7 million people, expected to be mobile by 2013. And 79% of them plan on taking their work-related devices with them on vacation, according to the second annual “Mobile Messaging Study” from Osterman Research, commissioned by software maker Neverfail.

A growing number of employees are not leaving work behind, even on weekends, breaks and holidays, because of the struggling economy. Three in 10 workers polled by TNS for InterCall said they needed to stay connected to their work 24/7. Men were more likely to feel compelled to check in, as were employees in their 30s.

Summer is almost here, and that means vacation time for many US employees. Or does it?

The US has the highest percentage of mobile workers in its workforce, according to February 2010 data from IDC, with 75.5% of the workforce, or 119.7 million people, expected to be mobile by 2013. And 79% of them plan on taking their work-related devices with them on vacation, according to the second annual “Mobile Messaging Study” from Osterman Research, commissioned by software maker Neverfail.

A growing number of employees are not leaving work behind, even on weekends, breaks and holidays, because of the struggling economy. Three in 10 workers polled by TNS for InterCall said they needed to stay connected to their work 24/7. Men were more likely to feel compelled to check in, as were employees in their 30s.

But workers are still divided over the benefits social media adds to their productivity. Slightly more than half (52.3%) the employees surveyed by the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) agreed that social media helped them learn more in less time, to some extent. But only 37% said they got more work done.

No wonder so many employees feel the need to work on weekends.

Social media presents great opportunities for marketers trying to reach workers. However, it might be a good idea to vary marketing messages sent during the workweek and those presented to workers checking in on weekends.