Australian workers suffer from app overload

Australian workers are suffering from app overload, with dramatic increases in the number of workplace apps used and the time spent using them in the past few years, research from RingCentral suggests.

A survey of Australian employees found that 43% are now spending at least one hour a day checking or responding to notifications from workplace apps. These notifications are ranked in third place behind phone calls and meetings as the most disruptive activity affecting their workflow.

Meanwhile, the average number of apps Australian workers are using has increased dramatically in the last five years, the results suggest. Today, more than half of Australian workers use six or more apps or programs at work each week, with 20% using more than 11.

The explosion of app usage is also resulting in work-life balance obstacles, with 70% of workers reporting feeling the need to check notifications after hours and workers ranking the level of anxiety they feel about work alerts or notifications as on par with spiders and bugs.

As a result, two in three Australian workers say they would prefer it if their work communications and collaboration apps integrated into a single platform, with 86% believing this would result in productivity improvements. Workers estimate that a single platform would save them at least 30 minutes a day.

“In five years, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in the number of separate apps Australians are switching between in the workplace, which is dragging on our productivity,” RingCentral Area Vice President Peter Hughes said.

“Combined with the constant stream of notifications we are all expected to respond to straight away, this is having a major negative impact on the employee experience and work-life balance.”

Image credit: iStock.com/wichayada suwanachun