ARE YOU IN CONTROL OF YOUR PHONE?
We surveyed 145 Australian EAs about their mobile phone habits and discovered that, while you’ ve mastered managing work boundaries, your personal relationship with your device is a very different story …
Let’ s face it – as an EA your mobile phone is arguably your number one work tool. Many of you use your personal device for work, keeping it by your side all day and sometimes all night. It’ s become integral to daily life, almost an extension of yourself. But what does this constant connectivity mean for your work-life balance, your relationships and your ability to switch off?
Earlier this year, Executive PA Media surveyed 145 Australian EAs about their mobile phone use and how it affects their lives at work and home. Throughout the year, we compared these findings with responses from EAs attending our networking events and Summits.
And the results reveal a fascinating paradox. While we’ ve become sophisticated managers of mobile phones for work, the same can’ t necessarily be said for our personal lives.
Work boundaries holding strong Good news first: Employers and EAs seem to have reached a healthy, mutual understanding about work-life boundaries. More than 80 % of respondents said their executives completely understand the boundaries or accept that, occasionally, they may receive a call on an important matter.
A further 13 % work in roles where being contactable is part of the deal – and they knew that when they took the job. As one respondent put it,“ It’ s not that kind of job. I need to be contactable if something comes up, but so does my boss.”
Considering Australia’ s‘ right to disconnect’ legislation, which became law in August 2024, you may wonder whether it wasn’ t actually needed and the respect for boundaries was already there – or, in fact, the new law worked immediately.
Two phones, clearer lines More than four in ten respondents have a separate mobile or SIM card for work. With more EAs working from home postpandemic, this makes practical sense – and it seems to be working well.
Almost eight out of ten EAs with two phones successfully keep their work and personal communications separate. They’ ve mastered the art of switching contexts, using each device for its intended purpose without crossover.
But it’ s not seamless for everyone. Just over one in six occasionally receive work calls and social media on their personal phone. And for a small group( 6.6 %), having a separate work mobile feels like a hindrance rather than a help. They regularly get work calls on their personal phone and have friends contacting their work phone. One respondent captured the frustration perfectly:“ I feel like a drug dealer with burner phones.”
The landline is dying fast When we ran the survey in January, 85 % of respondents had no landline at home and 45 % had none at their desk. By September, just eight months later, only 15 % of EAs attending our events reported having desk landlines.
The pace of change is remarkable. In 2018, PwC made what seemed like a bold announcement. They would end desk landlines within six months and issue all employees with mobiles instead. At the time, it felt radical. Now it’ s standard practice.
After emergency services, EAs are possibly the most mobile-reliant workers. Your success partly depends on how easily you can be contacted. The shift from fixed j
30 Executive PA | Spring Issue 2025