Stresslaxing: 88% of workers cannot disconnect from work on holiday

Holidays, intended to recharge one’s batteries, become an extension of the office for the vast majority of employees in Spain. A study by consultancy Synergie reveals that 88% of professionals remain connected to their job during the summer, whether by answering emails, handling corporate chats or checking notifications outside working hours.

The consequences are clear: 42% of workers acknowledge having suffered psychological problems related to the lack of disconnection. Some 28% link them directly to work pressure, while 25% point to the inability to separate themselves from the digital world. In figures, each employee receives an average of 120 emails a day and around 58 chat messages outside working hours, generating a permanent state of alert and phenomena such as so-called stresslaxing, the desire to relax without managing to do so because of accumulated mental load.

The impact also reaches companies: the absence of real rest increases cases of burnout, raises turnover and weakens team commitment. By contrast, organisations that protect the wellbeing of their workforce, limiting communications outside working hours and applying digital disconnection policies, achieve higher levels of motivation and talent retention. Experts insist that guaranteeing genuine breaks is no longer merely a legal matter, but a strategic factor in the digital era. Where workers perceive that their mental health is a priority, their performance grows, as does the company’s competitiveness.