Survey Finds 82% of Employees Choose to Stay Connected to the Office While on Vacation

ATLANTA, Aug. 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – As Labor Day weekend approaches, many workers are preparing to get a final taste of summer with trips to the beach and barbeques with family and friends. However, the inaugural Workcation Nation Survey from PGi (NYSE: PGi), a global leader in virtual meetings for more than 20 years, found that 42 percent of U.S. employees choose to check in with the office once a day while on vacation, and 40 percent report checking in multiple times a day.

The findings illustrate a growing trend within the U.S. workforce, as only a small percentage of employees disconnect when on vacation. In fact, only 10 percent reported they “never” check in with the office, and another eight percent reported they were unable to take a vacation.

“The majority of today’s workers stay connected while on vacation, and they want tools that allow them to effectively manage their work responsibilities and quickly return to their vacation,” said Sean O’Brien, PGi executive vice president, Strategy & Communications. “Collaboration technologies like video and web conferencing allow people to easily connect with colleagues from the mobile devices they bring with them on vacation.”

Smartphones (40 percent) are the most common device employees bring with them to stay connected to work, followed by laptops (11 percent) and tablets (4 percent). Hyper-connected employees are also common, with 37 percent of respondents reporting they bring a smartphone, laptop and tablet with them on vacation in order to check in with the office.

Tools built for mobile devices, such as PGi’s iMeet® and GlobalMeet® apps, offer “workcationers” the freedom to work from anywhere. These tools are essential to the 65 percent of survey respondents who have joined or hosted a meeting from a mobile device while on vacation. Of those who have used a mobile device to host or join a meeting, 94 percent have dialed into a conference call, 92 percent have participated in a web conference and 80 percent have attended a video conference.

“The survey findings illustrate an increasingly accepted norm in which the lines between work and personal lives are blurring,” said O’Brien. “It’s indicative of a trend we’re seeing in the market as ‘work’ becomes less about the place you go, but more closely aligned with getting the job done. As remote working continues to gain momentum, employees and employers will increasingly rely on technology that allows teams to effectively collaborate with each other no matter where they are.”