Israelis on average spend more time during the day working than tending to personal matters, according to a report published Tuesday by the Israel Democracy Institute.
The study, which examines the balance between personal life and work time, was conducted last November for the Eli Horowitz Conference for Society and Economy in Tel Aviv.
The study's 600, aged 18 and over, participants were surveyed online and included 500 Jewish and 100 Arab employed Israelis.
Among other criteria, the study surveyed the amount of time it takes Israelis to get to their workplaces and the commute's finical toll on the economy.
According to the report, on average it takes Israelis about an hour and 10 minutes to get to work, adding up to almost 6 hours a week and 24 hours a month, which are spent entirely on commute.
This culminates to an annual loss of about 36 working days, some 13% of the annual number of working days.
The survey also shows that almost half of employed Israelis, 55%, are not content (14% are even grossly displeased) with the balance between work and free, personal time. And that's in comparison to 50,5% who say they are either content or very pleased.
About two-thirds of employees, 62%, say their work is a priority in their daily schedule, in comparison to 30,5% who say they prioritize their personal life over their work.
Those who conducted the study say the data should be taken with a grain of salt, seeing as working from home has become common practice for many employees. Still, about half of participants, 47%, say they could never be able to do their work from home in any capacity.
In addition, data shows that almost 53% of Israelis don't work any extra hours, compared to 47% who say they do extra work. Most participants said the extra hours culminate to at least two hours on a weekly basis.
The current average workday stands at six hours.
A quarter of Israelis say they work weekends at least once a month, with some 16% of the surveyed say they work every weekend.
Moreover, 40% said they continued to work from home even on sick leave. During holidays, only 27% said they continued from work.
When asked if the participants felt their profession will remain relevant in the future, a decisive majority, 72%, said they don't worry about such a scenario.
"This study shows that we must tackle the need to adjust to the labor market in the 21st century," said Daphna Aviram-Nitzan, Director for Center for Governance and the Economy in the IDI.
"Employers in the public and private sector must make prepare to implement changes to the labor market, signing new employment agreements and pushing for vocational training, in accordance to market needs," she said. "Support the minimalization of the wealth gap and improve the level of expertise for Israeli workers in comparison to other OECD nations," she added.
"The job market has been going through far-reaching changes in the last few years," said Aviram-Nitzan in an interview with Ynet. "In the past, we used to get up in the morning, go to work for eight hours and call it a day when we were done, now the workday follows us around the clock.
"We are far more mobile, we can work at a café, from home, the boundaries have faded almost completely. In Israel, it is interesting to see we are not pleased with the current situation. Most Israelis feel they can't manage to find time for both for work and personal life," she said.
According to Aviram-Nitzan, France has recently passed legislations, banning the employers from sending work emails to their employees after a certain hour.