All I want for Christmas...Is a day off

 

 

As work goes global, will holidays disappear?
By Julz Darroch

With the already overwhelming demands we place on ourselves to keep ahead in the modern business marketplace, the fear of having more of our lives squeezed out in order to get ahead is very real.
Our working week is getting longer, and our ability to leave work and have a break uninterrupted by cell phone calls and emails is becoming more difficult.
A new challenge to our time management skills and our efforts at work/life balance is the rapid growth of the global marketplace. While traditionally those we dealt with in business were on the same schedule as us, we are just as likely to be working with people and businesses across the world.
For many operating businesses across more than one country (and therefore more than one time zone), it is not so much the global marketplace itself that creates pressure on working hours, it’s the access to technology that makes 24/7 communication easier.
This easier communication has a flow on effect of raising everyone’s expectations of how fast we can respond to emails and how available we are for calls and meetings - a challenge when those we are trying to communicate with are working when we are (or should be) sleeping.