92% of Maltese people consider themselves dependent on technology for daily tasks, as dependency increased following the pandemic, a Misco survey showed.

A study published by Misco, titled, ‘Technology at the Workplace Report,’ was conducted between September and October 2022, involving 291 individuals employed in Malta who make use of different technologies at their workplace.

The study was aimed at determining the impact technology has on individuals in the workplace, as well as their perception towards different forms of technology for their job, and the impact technology has on their work and work-life balance.

The survey also addressed aspects of technology at the workplace including HR-related aspects, how having modern technology attracts staff and impacts their productivity and how technology is impacting the productivity of remote working.

42% of the employees find that the technology at their workplace increases their stress and burnout levels, while 41% believe it makes it harder for them to achieve a work-life balance.

Director at Misco Joanne Bondin noted that dependency on technology has increased during and following the pandemic, particularly for those in a managerial role.

She also noted that accessibility to different work-related tasks from their phone leaves the individual continuously alert on what goes on at work.

The survey found that 88% of respondents have access to different work-related tasks, including emails and calendar, from their phone. 55% of these find that having such access makes them continuously alert to what goes on at work.

It also showed that 48% check their phone for work-related tasks multiple times a day outside their working hours. Males (55%) seem more likely than females (39%) to check their phones for work several times a day.

Many agree that technology has increased their productivity and flexibility, but it has also increased their overall time spent working, the survey showed.

42% feel that technology has impacted their stress and burnout levels, and 46% of respondents said that technology has not impacted their stress levels. 12% said that technology has in fact helped them reduce stress and burnout levels.

The survey showed that 90% of respondents agreed that technology at the workplace makes them more productive, however 64% also agreed that it has increased their amount of time spent working. 41% said that technology makes it harder to achieve work-life balance.

Similar research done by Misco had found that while in some cases, remote working has a positive impact on one’s work life balance, many end up worrying about work when not working and some also carry out work related tasks in their free time.

“At this point, I would say that there is need for a new framework of self-organisation skills to ensure we are the ones managing technology and not technology managing us,” Bondin said.

The survey asked participants to what extent they consider themselves tech savvy on a scale of one to four (one meaning not at all, and four meaning very much so). It showed that 54% of respondents rated themselves a score of three. 36% of males consider themselves to be very tech savvy, but only 18% of females rated themselves the same score of four.

Bondin noted that if males are more likely to consider themselves to be tech savvy, meaning they are more confident in their technological skills, then technology could become ‘another glass ceiling for women.’