Workplace Productivity Declines Before a Holiday Weekend
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Ciaran Griffin/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Many Americans have big end-of-summer plans for the upcoming Labor Day weekend, but employers won’t be happy to learn that worker anticipation of the three-day holiday has a negative impact on workplace productivity.
A new survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Red Bull North America finds 48 percent of U.S. employees ages 25-49 admit that their productivity at work diminishes just before, or immediately following, a holiday or a planned vacation.
Women are more likely than men to admit to a decline in workplace productivity ahead of a holiday, 47 percent to 40 percent.
The survey also finds that many U.S. workers admit to experiencing a lack of energy and a loss of productivity on a regular basis. One-in-five U.S. employees age 25-49 confess they begin to feel their productivity start to diminish in the first hour of their workday.
Eleven percent of employees feel their productivity diminishes within the first three hours of their workday.
Fifty-seven percent of U.S. workers claim their productivity diminishes four to eight hours into their day.
Additional findings from the survey:
— Workers ages 18-34 and those ages 45-54 (both seven percent) are more likely than those over 55 (one percent) to feel their productivity diminish in the first hour of their workday.
— Those with children under 18 in their household are more likely than those with no children to get tired within the first three hours of work (17 percent vs. 8 percent).
— Employed adults with kids younger than six years old in their household were more likely than those with children age 6-17 present in their household to admit being tired within the first three hours of work (25 percent vs. 14 percent).
— Ten percent of workers ages 25-49 say being confused about what to do at work represents their single greatest challenge to productivity.
The Harris Interactive survey was conducted online from June 7-11, 2013, and involved 2,046 adults ages 18 and older, among whom 1,093 are employed.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio