Around every second employee in Germany is reachable during the Christmas break. This is the result of a survey by the IT industry association Bitkom, which was published on Monday.
According to the survey, nearly half of the employees who have a Christmas and New Year’s break this year (49%) are still reachable despite their holiday, while the other half (50%) can be reached during their free time.
Five years ago, the proportion of employees who could be reached during the Christmas break was still at 71% (2019). However, a declining trend has been observed, especially during the Corona pandemic (2020: 61%, 2021: 53%). For the fourth year in a row, the proportion is now around half (50%, 2023: 49%).
The younger age group between 16 and 29 years old is best at switching off during the holidays, with only a third of them being reachable during their break (33%). The 30- to 49-year-olds, on the other hand, have the hardest time disconnecting, with 58% of them being reachable.
Many of those who are reachable during their break use written communication channels, such as short messages (48%) or emails (45%). 41% are even reachable by phone. However, most of them still limit their availability to written communication, as only 15% are willing to participate in video calls during their break. Collaborative tools are used even less, with only 7% of employees checking them during their free time.
The survey interviewed 1,004 people in Germany, aged 16 and above, between the 46th and 46th calendar weeks, including 433 employees who had a break this year.