More than half of survey respondents in Finland said they work while on vacation.
Commissioned by HR management firm SD Worx, the survey found 52 percent of respondents saying they regularly carry out all kinds of work remotely while on holidays.
Those saying they worked during their annual time off included rank-and-file employees, white-collar workers, managers and entrepreneurs.
After examining the survey results, SD Worx concluded that the digitalisation of working life has turned vacation periods into a new arena for work, and poses a threat to Finns' wellbeing at their jobs.
"The combination of smartphones and email has made it nearly impossible to disconnect from work. Checking work emails once or twice a week may seem moderate, but in practice this means that there is actually no day on vacation when work is not on your mind in one way or another," the company's country director in Finland, Mikko Uotila, said in a press release.
The survey was carried out by data research firm Bilend — it queried around 1,000 residents in Finland between the ages of 18 and 75.
Check-ins and time spent
Only about 15 percent of respondents said they were able to completely disconnect from work while on vacation, as checking work-related emails during holidays has become the new normal.
Nearly half of the respondents said they checked work emails at least once a week — or more — when they were on vacation. One quarter said they checked work email every day, but only for less than 15 minutes at a time.
More than half of entrepreneurs said they checked emails every day, but also spent less than 15 minutes doing so. However, entrepreneurs spent clearly more time on emails than other professionals.
Men appear to be slightly more attached to their jobs while on vacation than women. Nearly 90 percent of male respondents said they checked work messages or emails at least occasionally during their holidays. Slightly fewer female respondents said the same.
The survey also examined how employees in Finland deal with emergencies at work during annual leave. More than half of respondents said they would be willing to interrupt their vacations due to an emergency at work.
Meanwhile, around 14 percent said they would be willing to work more than three hours a day during their vacation if an emergency at work came up.
