Nearly all executives surveyed took their mobile phones on vacation, and 68 percent said they carried at least one additional piece of computer equipment. According to the survey, about two in five took two or more pieces of hardware with them on vacation--typically laptops, handheld computers, portable storage devices and mice.
Australia's IT industry has the reputation for burning the midnight oil, admitted Grant Montgomery, managing director at recruitment company E.L Consult.
"I think it's certainly something which is indicative of the IT profession that work is done outside [normal working] hours," Montgomery said.
"There's a tendency when a project or an assignment is underway to run with it until it's completed...to work through the night and get it working," he said. "There's always a sense of urgency with IT."
He also believes that tech job cuts over the past couple of years have had an impact on the remaining employees.
The scenario of the 'anytime, anywhere' working environment is a familiar one for Peter Williams, technology partner at professional services firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
Williams admitted that he can't leave home without his laptop, and takes it with him when he goes on vacation.
He believes that one of the real reasons that people check e-mail and stay connected while on holiday is to avoid ending up in an never-ending loop. He said that if you were someone who received 100 e-mails and 30 voicemail messages each day, it's hard to let that build up if you go away for two week's vacation.
"The nature of opportunities, particularly in technology consulting, is if people have a problem they want someone who can deal with it quickly," he said. "So if you're a bit of a hub you need to make sure you're not a bottleneck."
Miranda Su, vice president of sales and marketing at IOgear, which conducted the survey, said that many choose to stay connected even while they were on vacation by spending a couple of minutes each day checking e-mails, which gave them peace of mind to enjoy the remainder of their free time.
But others aren't so bullish on executives' penchant for blending work and play.
Alan Cohen, a psychologist who oversees "Life Choices" seminars for business executives in Maui, said businesspeople who are terminally tethered to the office face higher rates of burnout and depression than those who truly check out. In his new book, "Why Your Life Sucks," Cohen blames America's 24-7 work culture as one reason why many executives become stressed out and unhappy--especially in the technology sector.
"I agree that pace of technology changes so quickly that many people believe they can't afford time out," Cohen said in an interview last week. "But what they don't realise is that vacation and downtime makes you even sharper.
"I have a friend who convinced his boss, who was the top executive, to take a day off a week. The guy did and said that his creativity and freshness from just that one day off made him so much more productive. It's the missing link that most people don't get: that soul renewal is actually good for you professionally," Cohen said.
