Only 49% of employees can be reached while on vacation

Vacation and festive meals – or rather work and everyday office life? Employees use the days at the end of the year in very different ways. A Bitkom survey took a closer look at this and asked around 1,000 people aged 16 and over about their (work) plans and, in particular, their availability over the coming week. The results showed that almost half of those surveyed (49%) will remain available for work despite being on vacation – a downward trend compared to previous years, as this figure was 71% in 2019 and has been steadily declining since then. In most cases, this availability is due to the (perceived) expectations of the employer (58%), while in some cases employees are also available specifically for their customers (43%) or colleagues (40%). Overall, however, awareness of the importance of a healthy work-life balance is growing, concludes Bitkom CEO Rohleder.

Speaking of switching off between Christmas and New Year: We at politjobs are also taking a break for the Christmas holidays. We would like to take this opportunity to wish our readers a Merry Christmas! If you find yourself bored over the holidays or need a change of pace, you can click through the articles from the past few months in our magazine. Or are you looking for new professional challenges in the new year? Then register with our talent pool to be notified directly about potentially suitable jobs. The next issue of the politjobs newsletter will be published on January 10. To tide you over until the next newsletter, polisphere has published its annual politnews end-of-year quiz on the side notes of the political arena here. Until then, we wish you a relaxing and peaceful holiday season and a happy New Year!

These topics also caught our attention:

• Skilled worker immigration: Bureaucratic hurdles and long processing times mean that it is not always easy for companies to employ foreign skilled workers. However, support and advice is available from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, for example.

• Communication in the workplace: Emails, chat messages, and phone calls enable fast and uncomplicated communication in everyday working life, but they also have a negative impact on employee productivity. This is the conclusion of a study by TechSmith.

• Home office & remote work: Over the past year, we have repeatedly addressed the acceptance of home office and remote work models in this section. At the end of the year, this topic was re-examined by the Bavarian Research Institute for Digital Transformation and concluded with an outlook for 2024.

• Representation: People with a migrant background are less likely to be represented on works councils than other employees. The Hans Böckler Foundation examined this issue in more detail on the basis of an analysis of the WSI works council survey and concluded that a high proportion of union members in the workforce increases the chances of a diverse works council.

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