Results of a survey of 1,000 managers by the Chartered Institute of Management which concluded that 'Older bosses frequently see the internet as 'a massive time-waster' rather than a potentially useful way to work.'
A study by independent think tank Demos which concluded that 'companies should not dismiss staff who use social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo at work as merely time-wasters.
A study commissioned by Nortel and conducted by IDC which concluded that 'the next generation of workers will demand access to tools such as instant messaging and social networks, and will expect to be able to work remotely. Companies that do not provide such facilities will fail to attract and retain the staff they want.'
A study of 1,000 people commissioned by Telindus that found that 'nearly a third of younger employees would consider quitting their job if Facebook was banned in the workplace.'
Results of a Gartner study that found that 'companies shouldn't ban staff from using social applications such as Facebook and MySpace because of concerns about how they might be used.'
As the boundaries between working life and personal life become increasingly blurred we consider the ways in which technology can help us to manage our time efficiently.
A survey of 503 organisations, employing over one million workers, which revealed that the average UK office worker spends an hour and a half a week surfing the web for personal use at a cost to the economy of £10.6bn a year. The study also revealed that 60% of employers think staff regularly use office time outside of lunch hours and formal breaks to look at non-work sites, like those involving social networking, web email, shopping and holidays.
A poll of 1,000 office workers that found almost 80% of 18-24 year olds visit social networking websites at work. 63% download music and 58% watch YouTube. Some office managers have considered banning or limiting personal internet use, but fear a decrease in employee morale. 39% of this age group responded that they would consider leaving a company if a policy limiting internet access was introduced.
The issue was the subject of heated debate at the 2007/08 Corporate Executive Programme at Gleneagles Hotel. Fifty executives across a range of disciplines and industries debated the merits of allowing staff access to social networking from their desktops. Many were concerned that allowing social networking could open the floodgates to staff wasting time on a massive scale, or perhaps expose firms to unnecessary security risks. At the same time, executives realised social networking could become the way to do business in the future, replacing phone and e-mail as the communication medium of choice.
The results of a study by employment law specialists Peninsula that found 71% of workers are wasting on average three hours of company time a week to get the best deals on summer holidays, up from 42% in 2007. The survey also found that 81% of employers have now introduced disciplinary procedures for misuse of the internet at work, up from 48% in 2007.
Examining the approach of HR professionals to Web 2.0 access in the workplace. Concludes "The key to effectively managing how workers use Web 2.0 is [...] striking a balance which allows staff and their employers to fully embrace the benefits of Web 2.0 in a secure and effective business environment".
Excessive employee use of social networking sites is costing UK business £6.5bn a year, according to a new survey that found that people spend at least 30 minutes of their working day on social networking sites.
An investigation by The Guardian newspaper has revealed that in the last 3 years alone, over 1700 public employees have been sacked or disciplined for misuse of email or the Internet.
A new survey by Computer Weekly suggests that 77% of businesses are planning to monitor or limit access to social networking sites. The key concerns were around lost productivity (50%). The problem is also a drain on IT managers' time: 45% complained of an increased workload as a result of policing social networking sites.
Comment on a survey by Australian law firm Decaons which found that a quarter of workers aged 16-24 said access to social networking websites could influence their choice of employer and 76% thought "allowing social networking could benefit the firm".
Clearswift research shows finds that half of HR managers have had to discipline staff for time wasting on the Internet. They advise a considered response to the problem of the explosion in popularity of social networking sites, and encourage HR and IT to work together to manage it.
In a survey carried out by Salary.com, 60% of workers admitted to wasting time at work, with the average employee wasting 1.7 hours of a typical 8.5 hour working day. Personal Internet use topped the list as the leading time-wasting activity. The worst culprits of security breaches are junior sales people between the ages of 26 and 35, who are multi-taskers and technology-savvy, using applications such as email, Instant Messaging, VoIP, and the Web, MessageLabs reports.
"We believe that good employers should consider allowing their staff personal use of the internet in general at the workplace, during break times, provided this is used responsibly and doesn’t interfere with work or could compromise the employer’s reputation."
"Handled properly, personal access to the internet during breaks could be a valued benefit for staff, and also help employees develop useful IT skills."
Alex Lock, a partner at Beachcroft and a member of the Employment Lawyers Association said, 'whether they do it themselves, outsource or buy some sophisticated monitoring software, companies will need to pay someone to monitor their Internet use.'
Workers who spend time on sites such as Facebook could be costing UK firms over £130m a day, according to a study by Peninsula, an employment law firm.
In the past six months, Facebook’s British audience has grown at 19 times the rate of MySpace’s, surging 523% to 3.2 million. MySpace, owned by News Corporation, the parent company of The Times, has 6.5 million members and Bebo has 4 million in Britain. (July 28th, 2007.)
43% of workers are unable to access Facebook, while another 7% can access it only with restrictions. Extraordinarily, of the half who could access the social networking site, 8% stated that the access was allowed because companies feared an employee backlash if it were stopped.
In May, top law firm Allen & Overy (A&O) was forced into climb-down after the firm’s IT department was bombarded with staff complaints following a firmwide ban on social networking website Facebook
In August staff at Johncom were told their access to such sites would be blocked, yet such was the strength of feeling from the employees that the ruling was changed to a block only in working hours, with access to such sites granted during lunch and after working hours.
"If staff are still productive, who cares if they spend their downtime on Facebook?" Increasing numbers of firms are restricting access to the Internet, but is this the most effective answer to the problem?
Three council workers in Wales have lost their jobs after spending too much time on the Internet auction site eBay. Union officials said that over an 18-month period up to seven council employees had lost their jobs. They blamed bosses for not taking appropriate action to reduce staff temptation.
Almost two thirds of businesses expect to enforce Web surfing restrictions in 2008. Concerns about employee productivity were cited as a key concern by most of the companies currently restricting Internet use.
In a survey carried out by Smoothwall in 2006 of over 300 business internet users, 15% of respondents said they only accessed non-work-related sites during lunchtime and outside of core working hours.
Some New Year thoughts from FT veteran, Richard Donkin: "Employers must begin to absorb the potential of all forms of communication and information gathering, promoting a healthy use of the internet rather than resorting to heavy-handed interventions".