Majority of professionals bring their work laptops on vacation – and about half lose them while travelling
Seven in 10 professionals in Asia Pacific struggle with disconnecting from their job while on holiday.
A new study found that most (71%) have a bad habit of bringing their work-issued laptops on vacation.
Besides being a risk for their overall wellness, the inability to “switch off” can also lead to increased financial and security risk for the business – 45% of professionals have lost or had their devices stolen while travelling.
Of those who misplaced their devices, 86% would report the loss to their company within 48 hours. The silver lining is about half of those (45%) who report a loss ultimately saw their devices returned, found Snow Software.
While the odds are good that the device will be recovered, it still creates significant risks for organisations. Beyond the security risks that losing these devices pose for businesses, the survey also illustrates that for APAC employees, taking work on holiday is becoming the new norm.
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The study also found differences in vacationing habits with each generation of workers.
Being digital natives, it’s no surprise that 37% of millennials claim they always bring their work-issued devices on vacation, versus just 24% baby boomers.
Conversely, 33% of boomers never take their device with them. This is a stark comparison with the 18% of millennials who never bring work while travelling.
These gaps are also reflected in how often those devices were lost or stolen while on vacation. Half of millennials have had a work device lost or stolen on vacation, while just 22% of boomers have been in the same position.
Fortunately, younger workers do a better job of keeping IT in the loop when their device goes missing – they were more likely to report it to their company (47% versus 36% boomers), and to do so more quickly.
