GFI Software Study: Work Email Follows Employees Home

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

The third annual email survey by GFI Software conducted by Opinion Matters, found U.S. employees cannot escape work-related email, even during leisure time. This is a result of the ability to be always-connected via Wi-Fi, affordable smartphones, and tablets, and the growing lack of separation between personal and work time.

Following on from the findings of GFI’s inaugural 2013 study and the company’s 2014 follow-up research, this year’s survey of 500 U.S. employees at companies with less than 500 employees, examined how employees interact with email and the main obstacles to effective workplace email use.

The study found 58 percent of employees check work email at least once daily in their personal time, while 39 percent admit to checking multiple times or in real-time during time off. Further, the study found that 74 percent of workers regularly check work email during the weekends, 54 percent check email on vacation, and 39 percent check email after 11 p.m. The survey even found some workers feel compelled to check email during weddings, funerals, school events involving their children — and even while in labor.

The growing encroachment of email is also demonstrated by the fact that 25 percent of respondents feel compelled to reply to work emails within 15 minutes of receipt of an email, while 67 percent reply to work emails in less than an hour. One the other end of the spectrum, a little more than 6 percent take more than a week to reply.

The survey also found a decrease in the number of workers who used work email accounts for personal activities, dropping 5 percent from 2014, suggesting increased concern over company monitoring of workplace email and Internet use.

“Setting and maintaining realistic boundaries between work and personal life is important to health, happiness, and productivity. This balance is becoming harder than ever to accomplish due to the growth of tablets, smartphones, and now even smart watches and in-car communications — all of which keep people wired into work even after they go home of an evening,” said Sergio Galindo, general manager of GFI Software.

Despite its intrusion into the personal lives of employees, email remains the preferred mode of communications for those surveyed, at 39 percent, although this represents an eight percent drop from last year. Face-to-face meetings were second at 29 percent, while telephones (fixed line and mobile) came in third place at 24 percent.