The Bitch Ditch

Recent research has revealed that possessing a company smartphone can have negative effects on an individual’s social life.

A research conducted by Peninsula Ireland, a business consultancy company, shows that people who have been issued smartphones from their companies are more likely to turn workaholics. People with these phones have been found to be working an additional 16 hours every week compared to their counterparts who do not possess them. The additional hours of work involve checking and responding to messages and mails beyond office hours.

The research involved interviewing 600 employees of Peninsula, who are expected to work about 40 hours per week on an average as per corporate norms. It was found that employees having smartphones with them put in an additional 16 hours of work every week.

According to the Managing Director of Peninsula Ireland, Alan Price, the latest technology involving mobile phones have made Irish employees antisocial and workaholics. Smartphones like Blackberry and iPhones have made people available and contactable, so much so that workers continue to be on the job even while not in office. In spite of being pro business, this technology, and the newfound freedom provided by our little friend the USB dongle, is creating a negative effect on the social life of employees.

Moreover, as the extra time that the worker devotes to his job is usually not paid work, any company will only be happy with the current arrangements where output is obtained without overtime pay, and will be least concerned about the negative effect these gadgets have on the employee’s social and personal life.