- A study has suggested that excessive use of the Alt-Tab toggle may contribute to feelings of burnout.
- Harvard Business Review research shows that employees switch between apps 5 weeks per year.
- According to WeWalk, an average of 76 employees in large companies have quit due to “tech frustrations.”
There are many reasons you might feel burned out at work right this moment, including long hours, understaffing, side hustles and more. There might be an alternative you aren’t aware of: the Alt-Tab toggle.
A StudyPublication by Harvard Business Review, August Bloomberg reportedWorkers were switching between websites and apps up to 1200 times per day, according to a study.
The result was that employees spent just four hours per week reorienting themselves following switching to a different application. According to the study, this amounts to 9% of employees’ annual time working.
Another study suggests that employees might decide to quit by “toggling tax”.
Okta, a company that manages identity and access, said to Bloomberg that its clients used 89 apps in 2015, up from just 58 in 2015. The average number of apps that large companies use is now 187. A WalkMe surveyNearly 30% of these apps were duplicates or added no value.
However, the most significant issue could be the impact of the toggling tax on employee burnout. WalkMe’s large companies found that an average of 76 employees left big firms last year because of “technology frustrations.”
This illustration shows how digitization is changing the business world. However, it is not always for better.
The pandemic triggered the switch to home work, which saw record-breaking investments of $90 billion in promising startups. per OPEXEngine. Companies were drawn to communication apps such as Slack, Zoom and Microsoft Teams by their customers.
Rohan Narayanamurty, co-author of the Harvard Business Review study and founder of Soroco’s machine learning company, said that some apps may be more valuable than the admin benefits.
“How we do work is a distraction in and of itself.” Murty stated that we switch constantly between different applications all day.
Indeed, Tori Paulman (senior analyst in Gartner’s employee experience technology group) told Bloomberg that an HR manager asked her about an app to help employees feel less fatigued from using all these apps.
She stated that technology had gone from being a great enabler and now it is a great inhibitor.
