- 39% spend one hour or less per week
- 29% spend 2 hours per week
- 21% waste five hours per week
- 3% said they waste 10 hours or more doing unrelated activities.
It also said that the survey on Salary.com mentioned which websites were the most visited by employees while they were at work. Of the 64 percent of employees that visit non-work related websites the top three most popular sites are the following:
- 41% Facebook
- 37% LinkedIn
- 25% Amazon
- Not feeling challenged at work.
- Work too many hours.
- The company doesn't give sufficient incentive to work harder.
- They are unsatisfied with their career.
- Just plain bored.
This survey is very helpful for employers who are trying to prevent their employees from misusing this internet while at work. It helps the employer to understand why the employee is do so. I think that it is important to address all of the five reason that the survey participants offered to explain their behavior. I think that companies should have a balance of making sure their employees are staying challenged, mentally healthy, and given appropriate incentives (when necessary). This will not cut down on internet misuse in the workplace completely but I think these things should not be discounted. After applying appropriate software and policies, these issues need to be addressed as well to help increase productivity.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2012/07/17/employees-really-do-waste-time-at-work/
I agree that addressing those concerns would cut down on the wasted time at work. But one thing that is probably making it harder on companies is smart phones. Because now you don't have to just use your work computer you can just hop on your phone.
ReplyDeleteIt is not surprising that companies lose so much productivity due to the misuse of the internet. This does not surprise me because on any given day at UNCC you will see students in their zone online during class; sometimes through the entire class. They will soon be a part of these unproductive employee percentages.
ReplyDeleteI do not have a computer job, but when I see my co-workers on the texting while we have customer I feel like this would be the same case of violation on misuse of company time.
ReplyDeleteI was not surprised by the amount of people that waste time at work on the internet but I was surprised by the amount of time they are doing this. How can a person even do their job if they are spending hours on the internet not doing something job related? I was a little confused why they included LinkedIn as a website being used most frequently that is not work related. This website is a professional website that brings different people together to help network in the work field. So to me this website does not seem inappropriate to be on while at work.
ReplyDeleteNow this is serious misuse of the internet. lol In all honesty, I don't think that many employees will get the point that wasted time on the internet is a loss of money for the company unless if the bosses take matters seriously such as threats of terminations of employment. But then, I know some bosses personally that spend the same time doing the same that they tell us not to do. haha
ReplyDeleteit wasn't surprising to see the number of employees spending time on the Internet. Most of us are addicted to social network or to random stuff on internet. That's why i really think companies need to lock the screen !! i have had test online and you can use a program that locks the screen. Maybe it will be the best solution.
ReplyDeleteoh my! it is so true. I have to admit I have gone to Amazon once in a while lol I completely agree that the internet is so tempting, specially when you are concentrating like 3 hrs straight (sometimes I do the internet marketing at my job) and since you are already online, to clear your mind you just go to facebook or something for a couple of minutes. I guess it would be better just to stand up, take a brake, but Amazon is just there, waiting for you instead lol
ReplyDeletePriscilla S
My company has been cracking down on us for being online during working hours. They have monitoring software, limits to what you can view and people that serve as watchdogs. I understand that people are wasting a lot of time online but on the other hand, it seems like they are wasting a lot of money and effort monitoring us. Do I spend some company time looking at non-work sites online? Yes. Am I wasting any more of the company's time than the people that smoke cigarettes on the clock all day long? I think not.
ReplyDeleteI agree that I am one of those that doesn't seem to go without going on internet every few hours. I misuse internet at work by visiting sites that don't pertain to my job either on their computers or on my phone during work hours.
ReplyDeleteIt is within the business rights to monitor and control this. I know many viruses are found or obtain on Facebook. So that is incentive enough for businesses to block facebook.
It seems like most people today feel they need to take a quick work break and jump on the web for personal use. It's obviously something people feel that they can get away with. I typically will use my phone for to jump on the web. I do agree with J Ishman's comment regarding smoke breaks.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is almost impossible to cut down on this without invading some privacy. I think that all in all, that going on facebook or some other site may not be a bad thing after all. It could be a stress reliever for those who are under tremendous stress at work and then again some people could use it to their advantage. I like the freedom that some workplaces have a would hate to see it taken away because some people don't know when play time is over.
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised about how high those numbers are. For jobs that have internet availability, it is easy for some employees to abuse the policy. At my job our company blocks certain cites, such as your personal email and blog sites. I'm not sure how much that costs but im sure it is more cost effective than paying employees for hours of browsing the internet.
ReplyDelete