Is BYOD Burning Out Your Workforce?

A new study suggests Bring Your Own Device workers may be getting burnt out. Their self-imposed blended work-life lifestyle essentially puts them on call around the clock, over weekends and on vacations, which can lead to copious amounts of stress, according to a TEKsystems survey of more than 300 IT professionals.

Half of respondents say the constant mobile connection to work apps, documents and email has increased their stress because they’re never able to unplug. More than 60 percent would prefer to go back to the old days working set hours and being inaccessible during personal time.

[Related: Have We Reached Gadget Fatigue?]

In today’s mobile culture, employees are becoming slaves to their BYOD phones.

If a phone loses connectivity to work resources during off hours, 42 percent say they would alert IT of the problem within one hour. Of course, this also means IT employees are putting in work during off hours, too.

Mobility has seeped into people’s lives so deeply that it’s how many start their day. A whopping 28 percent of respondents check their mobile device first thing in the morning — before visiting the bathroom. In a similar BMC Software survey, one out of three BYOD employees checks work email before the official start of their work day, between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m.

[Related: BYOD Users Work Longer and Earlier]

Mobility, along with the blended work-life lifestyle, doesn’t seem to be slowing down, either. According to IDC, the world’s mobile worker population will grow to 1.3 billion by 2015. That’s a lot of stressed out people, if employees don’t know how and when to disconnect from work or are actively discouraged from doing so, Ajay Kaul, managing partner of AgreeYa Solutions, a secure mobility and collaboration platform solution, told CIO.com.

Of course, more than a few BYOD-ers are glutton for punishment. Some 40 percent of respondents in the TEKsystems survey say they prefer to be always connected. Sixty percent say mobility gives them greater control over their work life. Sure, they make a compelling case that mobility and BYOD gives them the flexibility to work when and where they want to.

But is it worth the stress?