Research released today by The Office Exhibition has revealed some fascinating facts about office life, including that each person spends an average of 46 days out of their working year alone on non-work related activity. The survey shows that despite putting in long hours, UAE office workers still manage to grab some personal time during the working day, whether on social networking websites, surfing the net, gossiping with colleagues, or making tea.
The Office Exhibition surveyed over 1,000 office workers across the UAE, with the following results:
· Time for tea: a staggering 150 million cups of tea are made by office workers in the UAE every year, with each person spending almost four and a half working days making them
· Good to gossip: office workers in the region believe that it is good to chat to colleagues – so much so, that on average they spend nearly seven working days a year doing it
· Socialising online: some 62 percent of companies have an IT policy relating to social media and personal Internet usage which is adhered to, but 33 percent either have a policy that is ignored, or do not have a policy at all. In line with this, 44 percent of respondents said that they did not use social networking at work (Facebook, Twitter etc), although UAE office workers still manage to spend almost 11 days each a year doing this, in addition to eight days per year instant messenging with friends (MSN, Facebook chat etc).
· From banks to breaks: online banking and paying bills is a popular in-work-time activity, with each office worker spending 11 days a year doing it; in addition to six days a year spent online at work researching and booking holidays
· Email mountain: email is by far the preferred method of communication at work, with 60% of respondents preferring this over phone or face to face contact. Office workers send and receive a total of a staggering 3.5 billion emails every year, which averages out to 47 emails each working day
Speaking about the research, Sinead Bridgett, Show Director, The Office Exhibition said, “It’s well known that people in the UAE spend long hours in the office, but our survey has uncovered some fascinating facts about what actually happens during the working day. Whilst email now dominates official communications, people still want to spend time chatting with colleagues about non-work related issues.
“The majority of companies have IT policies in place regarding social networking and internet use, but almost a third do not, and this is something we would encourage them to look at as a significant number of days a year are spent on these activities at work.”
Now in its 9th year, The Office Exhibition is a leading showcase for the high-end products, technology and services that combine to create outstanding working environments. Set to take place at the Dubai World Trade Centre from 9-11 February 2010, the show will feature over 250 companies, covering an area of approximately 15,000 m2.
