14 DAY TRIAL // 2007's summer found the Swedish people with a greater desire to work outside the office than ever. TeliaSonera, a leading mobile network operator in Sweden and Finland, recently conducted a survey that shows the Swedes are about to set a new record when it comes to working outside the office. From 1,710 Swedes that responded to the survey, nine out of ten plan to work for a period of time outside the office during the summer. This is a 15 percent increase compared to 2006 and it reflects the growing interest in telecommuting manifested by the Swedish people over the last years.
H?kan Dahlstr?m, Head of Mobility Services at TeliaSonera Sweden, said: "Many of us work hard to get all the pieces of our daily life in place in order to create a healthy balance between our work, family life and leisure time. Modern technology and today's mobile solutions make it easier for us to use our time in the smartest way possible. Many companies have realised this and are encouraging their employees to work in the location that suits them best. Companies and employees both benefit from this."
53 percent of the survey's respondents intend to work outside the office from one to three days per week. Young people especially are excited about telecommuting, as 41 percent of the people under the age of 35 declared that this year they would work more outside the office than they did last year.
The reasons why people don't want to work in their offices for the summer are not hard to guess. 42 percent of the respondents said working outside is simply pleasant and feels nice. 20 percent declared they save time by not commuting, 17 percent are happy to take advantage of fine weather, while 15 percent want to spend more time with their children. A funny (or not?) reason to prefer telecommuting for the summer, invoked by just 1 percent of the people, is avoiding bosses or colleagues (I think those persons should better find other jobs because, well, summer will end someday).
Another question that TeliaSonera wanted to be answered is why people read their work-related e-mail when they're not at work. Most of them (53 percent) want to be updated with how things are going, to make sure they don't miss eventual important messages. 36 percent said that it would be stressful not to know what happens in their inbox, 35 percent want to avoid tons of unread e-mails, 20 percent check their e-mail considering that their customers expect it and 9 percent are just curious.
"It is important to take time off and relax during the holiday period but many still choose to check their work-related mail from time to time during their holiday because it is easier to relax when they know what's going on", H?kan Dahlstr?m said.
This year is the fourth consecutive one that TeliaSonera conducts a survey regarding summer working trends. This summer's survey respondents are managing directors, IT managers and other office workers from companies of all sizes from all over Sweden.