Even while vacationing, it’s difficult to completely disconnect from work thanks to the portability of the office. This is the case for over half of respondents, according to a new Cisco WebEx survey of 500 U.S. small business owners (infographic below).

The survey, which was conducted for Cisco by Wakefield Research, looks at business owners with 100 or fewer employees, between June 6 and June 14 of this year.  They found that many holiday workers plan to work on an average 18 days this summer, while 15 percent of those surveyed intend to work remotely 36 days or more. Additionally, more than half of business owners plan to work remotely for at least two weeks before the summer is out.

Connected devices helping remote workers

Online tools, smartphones, tablets, video and web conferencing are helping workers to work remotely while away from office this summer.

The Cisco study shows that it is a common tendency among workers to be in a conference or video call while on vacation (37 percent), at a professional function (34 percent) or while travelling in the car (27 percent).

At least 29 percent of respondents said they will spend at least three weeks or more working remotely. More than 15 percent said to work remotely or away from office for more than 36 days.

Mutual benefits

The technological tools now allow employees or contractors to go on holiday with peace of mind, while keeping an eye on the job and get rewarded for doing so.

According to the survey, many small business owners are planning to provide their staff with summer benefits including casual dress code (35 percent), flexible time (26 percent), telecommuting or working from home (23 percent), early close hours on Fridays (16 percent) and reimbursement for mobile devices such as phones, tablets and laptops.

Another infographic released by SAP and NetBase found that mobile devices increase self and company efficiency such as approving expenses, vacation requests, and tracking real time sales performance.

Seasonal work trends

Summer vacation doesn’t affect only small business owners when it comes to shifting work schedules.  According to an analysis of government data by global outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas of Chicago, US employers offered more than one million summer jobs this year to teens, up 20 percent from the same period a year ago.

Another annual SMB Wellness Index survey from Manta, the providers of market research reports, business news, free company profiles & company information on U.S. and International companies, shows that 48 percent of small business owners won’t be taking a vacation this year.

The report also said that the 71 percent of small business owners are eager to work while on vacation, thanks to the growing BYOD trend.