Online recruitment specialist Jobco-op Automotive is advising dealers to watch out for ‘digital burnout’ among staff.

Derek Webb, sales director at Jobco-op, says staff working remotely to follow up leads out of hours could be particularly susceptible.

“Modern technology means sales staff can do almost everything that they could do in the dealership by accessing their DMS or sales system remotely,” he said.

“This means that some of them effectively work seven days a week. They continue to monitor all ongoing sales activity even when they are on holiday.

“In some respects, this is good for the dealership, but we have interviewed salespeople recently who felt they were expected to work in this way.

“In the medium to long term, employees who never switch off will tend to suffer some kind of burnout and their performance will be poorer as a result.”

Jobco-op recommends that managers take steps to curb the excessive use of technology and protect the wellbeing of staff.