29 Percent Shop Online at Work

Half of employers monitor workers' online activities

December 2, 2008

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It's the time of year again for eggnog, good cheer and of course, a bit of online Christmas shopping in the office.

Nearly one-third (29 percent) of workers, in line with last year's findings, plan to shop online while at work this year, but it may be best saved for lunch hours or break times, according to a new survey from CareerBuilder.com. The survey also found that half of employers monitor the Internet use of employees.

As seasonal online shopping ramps up, productivity in the workplace will likely be affected. Of those who plan to shop online this season while at work, 43 percent anticipate they will spend more than one hour, 23 percent said they will spend two hours or more and 13 percent will spend three hours or more.

"While employers are unlikely to terminate workers for online holiday shopping during the workday, employees should proactively police their personal Internet usage," said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources for CareerBuilder.com.

"In addition, employees need to be aware of company Internet policies, as more than a quarter of employers surveyed monitor workers' time spent online and sites visited. Employees can then determine if it is best to designate their lunch hour or break times for online holiday shopping," she added.

Trends of Internet usage

• Research: Sixty-one percent of workers use the Internet for non-work related research and activities while they are at work. Among these workers, 37 percent said they spend an average of more than 30 minutes of their workday on non-work related online activities and 18 percent said they spend an average of an hour or more.

• E-mail: When it comes to digital correspondence, 20 percent of workers send six or more non-work related e-mails per day. Among this group, 22 percent spend more than 30 minutes during the typical workday doing so.

• Blogging: Nine percent of workers surveyed have a personal blog, and while nearly a quarter (23 percent) of them spend time blogging at work, only 9 percent of them spend 15 minutes or more blogging during the typical workday.

• Social Networking: Forty-one percent of workers surveyed have a MySpace, Facebook or other social networking page. More than one-third (35 percent) of them spend time on their social networking page during the workday with 8 percent spending 30 minutes or more.

• Instant Messaging: Twenty percent of workers use instant messenger at least once a week.

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