Are you on call 24/7?

Employees feel pressured to be available to bosses at all hours of the day, a study suggests.

Research from Info-Tech Research Group found 81 per cent of employees feel obliged to be available 24/7 while only 19 per cent of respondents said they feel no obligation whatsoever to be available for work all the time.

Some believe this isn't such a bad situation, though, as mobile technology such as the BlackBerry frees one from being in the office while working those long hours.

Clive Davies, a partner at law firm Olswang, told silicon.com: "I think it's an opportunity to use time more efficiently.

"In a professional job you have to be contactable by clients. It's much better to have the technology to do that remotely rather than going into the office at the weekend. It's a question of how you manage the technology available to you. It's an opportunity as well as a threat."

The web survey of mainly IT workers found 44 per cent of respondents said they feel somewhat obliged to be always available. Twenty-two per cent said they feel obliged and 15 per cent are absolutely obligated to be always-on for work.

The IT security industry is one area where many people work round the clock or remain on call at all hours because virus writers in the Far East are unlikely to care what time it is in Aylesbury.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for antivirus company Sophos, told silicon.com: "I do make myself available around the clock - I've had journalists phone me up when I've been in the bath."

But that stereotype of 24/7 availability is already changing in the security sector.

Cluley said: "For a company like Sophos the days are long gone when virus analysts had to work around the clock - we have centres around the world for that. I'm sure there are lots of IT people who might be critical to a business and would carry a mobile phone around in case things go belly up."

The trend of being in touch with the office 24/7 will only accelerate as a result of growing sales of mobile phones, laptops and personal communications devices, Info-Tech said.

Clive Longbottom, service director for analyst Quocirca, said this will lead to a blurred line between work time and personal time. He said: "When you look at the impact of mobility there is no longer a case where you work from nine to five. People have core hours when they are supposed to be in the office or on the road but equally when they are the office they might be looking at eBay or doing something personal. We have blurred the line.

"This is what companies have to bear in mind for the future - they have to tell people what they need to do by the end of the week, say. But there's still a mentality that you must do a 40-hour week."

Info-Tech warns that employers must recognise the trend for employees to be 'always-on' to avoid them burning out.