[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee (이윤서)] A survey has found that how quickly employees respond to work messages after leaving work is linked to their chances of promotion.

Tech outlet TechRadar reported on Sunday local time that a survey by UK career transition support firm Careerminds UK found 70.8 percent of respondents who replied immediately to night-time messages were promoted in the past 2 years.

The survey found promotion rates diverged sharply depending on how quickly people responded to contact from their boss or company after leaving work. The promotion rate was 70.8 percent among those who replied immediately to messages outside working hours. It was 68.2 percent for those who replied within 1 hour and 55.1 percent for those who replied the next morning.

Differences by generation were also large. Among millennials who responded quickly to messages outside working hours, 86.0 percent were promoted, compared with 47.2 percent for Generation X, classified as those aged 44 to 59. The promotion rate for Generation Z was 81.2 percent.

The effect of after-hours responsiveness being linked to promotion did not appear the same across all job levels. No clear advantage was confirmed among entry-level employees or director-level staff, and it stood out more around middle management in organisations.

A gender gap was also found. Among those who responded quickly over the past 2 years, the share of those promoted was 79.0 percent for men and 60.8 percent for women. It means that even if the correlation between response speed and promotion appears the same, actual outcomes differed by gender.

The survey is drawing attention as the British government's discussion of a Right to Switch Off has effectively stalled. The system was pushed as a workplace reform to be included in an employment rights bill and had support from unions and employees as well as some business leaders. But the provision was left out when the bill was unveiled and was pushed back to the next stage.

There were also signs from inside the UK government that the policy had effectively been scrapped. A government source told the Sunday Times, "This policy has been scrapped," and there was also reporting that it had entered the process of being dropped. The government cited a desire to make Britain a good place to do business by reducing companies' economic burden and unnecessary regulation.

Some countries introduced similar systems earlier than Britain. Ireland has operated a similar rule since 2021 that allows people to ignore work messages outside working hours, and France introduced the rule in 2017.

In this situation, Britain has welcomed a new prime minister. Attention is focused on whether the halted Right to Switch Off will be discussed again depending on how the new government adjusts its labour policy priorities.