Avaya finds working for a small company could lead to divorce

NETWORKING OUTFIT Avaya claims that the extra work required to enable small businesses to compete with larger ones causes over a third of workers surveyed to suffer relationship problems or divorce.

Avaya, which produces IP telecommunications products that allows users to work from home or on the go, came up with the information after surveying 700 senior managers at small and medium sized businesses in the UK and Germany. Isabelle Guis, general manager of small and medium enterprise communications at Avaya told The INQUIRER that users require "freedom and flexibility" to avoid getting into trouble with their other half, and added that it is "not reasonable to work all the time".

Most would say that having the ability to work on the go and from home actually means they end up doing more work, and those looking for respite might have to think again. Social networks are becoming a greater part of business life and, according to Guis, leading to some social networks becoming important parts of companies' communications systems.

Guis said that firms are evaluating the benefits of social networks, adding, "it is hard to quantify social network gains". She said, "Avaya hasn't seen businesses incorporate social networking in their core communications strategy, but there has been interest." That interest is only likely to grow as social networks' audience reach grows.

The integration of social networks into corporate messaging systems would be a way to federate employee access, said Guis. Essentially it could mean that firms might have the same accounting procedures they have with corporate email and telephone logging to ensure employees respond to customer messages.

Avaya found that 83 per cent of those surveyed said that flexible working did ease the pressure of working life. While that might be true now, with the epidemic growth of social networks and the inability to escape from them, that figure might decrease in future. µ