EMPLOYEES are having to stay late in the office because of poor teamwork, says a new survey. The problem is fuelling the country's long-hours culture.

A study of 2,200 workers by software firm Microsoft found poor communication and ineffective meetings were the top time wasters.

The company said that workers were now doing an average of 45 hours a week, but believed 17 of these were unproductive. Workers spent more than five hours a week in meetings and received an average of 42 e-mails every day.

Nicola Casey of Microsoft said: "Our productivity is increasingly shaped by our ability to communicate and collaborate with our colleagues and less by our ability to process tasks alone."