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Stressing this was a personal rather than Optus viewpoint Mr Mason said that in the future people might come to question some of the health impacts of expecting employees to be available for work around the clock.
He said already there were concerns about teenagers' constant use of computer screens and lack of sleep. 'There may be a time when we all have to have some specific downtime,' he said.
Beth Winchester, executive general manager of human resources at Fuji Xerox, said that from an HR perspective; 'I have more requests about how to help stop people working than to start working.'
Ms Winchester said in addition health and safety professionals were 'freaking out' about the use of technology for work purposes in employees' home offices where it could not be monitored.
Cisco chief technology officer Kevin Bloch meanwhile hoped there would not be a backlash but he acknowledged that it was important to identify the difference between 'being efficient and working 24 hours a day versus being effective.'
Steve Godbee, IBM Australia CIO, said that it was a question of balance. 'If someone feels they have got to be connected 24x7 then it becomes the role of the manager to be on top of the worker,' and deal with the issue before it led to employee burnout.
