66% of people in Switzerland check their work emails while on holiday

As August rolls on and the end of the summer holidays approaches, lots of people in Switzerland are feeling their stress levels rising as they think about going back to work. That’s the finding of a study by HR consultancy Robert Walters. 

Many employees in Switzerland feel anxious about returning to work

In a survey, Robert Walters asked more than 600 people who work in Switzerland about their habits, thoughts and feelings about taking paid holidays. They found that 53 percent of all respondents said they feel stressed or anxious about returning to work after a period of time off. 29 percent said they feel “very anxious”, Watson reports.

When asked about the factors contributing to that feeling of anxiety, most people mentioned overflowing email inboxes. Other commonly-mentioned stress factors included the fear of having lots to catch up, struggling with handovers or unfinished tasks, and missing important updates. 

Swiss workers most likely to put off holidays due to work pressures

What’s even more striking about the study is the proportion of respondents who admitted to letting work stray into or even encroach on their holiday time. 66 percent said they check their work emails while on holiday. 71 percent said they had postponed vacation days due to feelings of guilt and work pressure. 

Here Switzerland stands out compared to other European countries, according to the study’s authors: while employees in Spain, France and the UK also admit to checking work emails while on annual leave (in the UK, 73 percent of respondents do this!), the proportion of people who said they postponed holiday days because of work pressures is higher in Switzerland than in any other European country. 

Swiss companies should encourage workers to switch off on holiday

Özlem Simsek, Managing Director at Robert Walters, said of the data: “There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. It’s [most] important to establish a corporate culture that encourages genuine disconnection.” He added that things like clear handovers, respect for out-of-office notifications, and open communication about holidays without feelings of guilt could contribute to this. 

Moreover, he said that this would also benefit companies, enabling workers to fully recharge their batteries and come back fresh, motivated and productive. The study’s authors said a failure to achieve this can negatively impact an employee’s long-term performance.