98% of executives check their work emails during personal time outside of the workplace and 63% check emails as often as every hour according to research conducted by Gyro and Forbes Insight. Team Viewer and Harris Interactive furthered this, reporting that 61% of employees are willing to work during vacation. Reasoning for this was put down to the nature of their role. In particular, Managers and Directors feel they have no choice due to ongoing responsibilities.
Professionals are increasingly willing to blur the line between work and home. It is argued that if people love what they do then why should there be a strict divide between work and home? There has always been a strong emphasis on prioritising between work and lifestyle through creating a work-life balance. Whilst this concept remains a fundamental part of maintaining job satisfaction, minimising stress levels and ultimately maintaining good health and wellbeing, the focus is now on managing time effectively so that you can integrate the two without added stress.
Work-life integration is a concept that allows workers to accomplish both work requirements and personal requirements in a more blended process. It is about allowing flexibility meaning time does not have to be so rigidly split between working hours and non-working hours. This works well for those who are happy to take a 6am conference call but then take an hour out mid-afternoon for a gym session; or for those who prefer to be able to take calls from family members and friends, but then are willing to take work calls during holidays or attend to emails at night.
The rise of the remote worker has contributed significantly to the shift from a ‘work-life balance’ to integrating work duties and lifestyle. Technologies and platforms such as Office 365, Google Docs, Skype and social media platforms have played a big part in allowing remote working to take place and has made work life integration far more possible than ever before. It is suggested that by 2020 the number of people working from home at least once a week is set to increase by over 60%.
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