hand press button and e-mail
American workers are inundated with email and other digital communications, and many of them are ready for a break.
Although digital communications were essential for businesses to survive during the pandemic, they continue to consume a substantial amount of time for workers even after they returned to the office. The average person spends two hours and 45 minutes on work-related digital communications each day, a new survey by EmailTooltester found. In addition:
- The average person receives 32 emails a day. This ranges between 1 in 10 receiving upwards of 50 emails a day at work and 2 in 10 people receiving fewer than 10.
- The average person has 30 unread emails in their work email box, with 12% having more than 50.
- Four in five respondents have dreaded opening their work email inbox.
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This anxiety doesn’t affect the only the workday. Two-thirds of people admitted losing sleep over a work email or emails. There was a clear correlation between seniority and sleep loss over email communications. Nearly two-thirds of entry-level employees had lost sleep over an email, rising to 8 in 10 business owners and CEOs. Three in four communicate with loved ones less because they are burned out by work communications.
“It’s not just our working lives that are filled with digital communication,” the survey report said. “Catching up with friends and family remotely via phone or messages and responding to private emails also requires daily effort.”
Finally, 70% feel pressure to respond to work emails even when they are away from the office.
“Many of us have our mobile phones in our pocket or nearby at all times,” the report said. “Rather than shutting down their laptop at the end of the day and being done with work, 8 in 10 said they had access to their work emails or work communication platforms on their phones, too. One reason for this could be the high percentage of people who believe their boss expects them to respond to emails after hours.”
Australia recently enacted a “right to disconnect” law, meaning employees legally have the right to ignore any work communication after hours. What do Americans think about introducing similar legislation in the United States?
“Respondents overwhelmingly thought it would be a good idea,” the report concluded. “Nearly all respondents (90%) thought a right-to-disconnect law would be beneficial. However, most people (70%) also thought their boss would object to such a law.”
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Alan Goforth
Alan Goforth is a freelance writer in suburban Kansas City. In addition to freelancing for several publications, he has written a dozen books about sports and other topics.
