WBS research reveals workers receive 10,000 emails a year

New research from Warwick Business School (WBS) has discovered that the average British worker is consumed by a mass of emails, dealing with 10,000 messages a year.

The average office worker in the UK has to face 40 emails a day, with one worker in 12 having to face 100 messages a day.

Other findings of the survey revealed that 11 percent of people spend the whole working day on a computer or mobile phone.

However, the research also revealed that older office technologies are suffering as a result. One in 10 workers no longer use the phone at work, while one in five never puts pen to paper in the office.

Will Skillman of WBS commented on the dramatic change of the office-landscape over the past 50 years.

He said: “Since the 1950s, technology in the workplace has changed dramatically from telephones and typewriters to advanced personal computers, mobile communications equipment and tablet devices.

“Our study shows that British workers are now hugely reliant on electrical appliances throughout the working day and while on the move and feel this has improved their productivity.”

Mr Skillman also added that these findings may not be as revealing as they first seemed.

“[W]hat isn’t clear is whether this technology-powered workplace is directly helping to improve how we work or if we are just replacing old technologies with new.

“Certainly the rise of the mobile office means that workers can stay plugged in on the move and for longer periods of time, but whether this has resulted in a more productive workforce remains to be seen,” he said.

While 58 percent of people believe that computers, tablets and mobile phones have made us more productive, figures from the Office of National Statistics suggest that there has been a mere two percent rise in productivity since 1973.

Other findings of the WBS study showed approximately a quarter of the British workforce could not remember life without email.