Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Time A-Wastin'…:
"Published: July 19, 2005
(After July 27, 2005, this article will only be available to eStat Database subscribers.)
A new survey finds that the average American worker wastes over two hours a day — much of it online — costing industry billions a year.
Employers expect workers to waste time every day, but only about an hour. They may be paying for more waste than they bargained for.
According to a survey of over 10,000 employees conducted by America Online (AOL) and Salary.com, the average worker admits to frittering away 2.09 hours a day, not counting lunch. Over the course of a year (and even after accounting for time employers expect to be wasted), that adds up to a $759 billion productivity loss.
'A certain amount of slacking off is already built into the salary structure,' said Bill Coleman of Salary.com. 'But our survey results show that workers on average are wasting more than twice what their employers expect. That's a startling figure.'
The number one culprit is the Internet. Including e-mail, IM, online polls, interactive games, message boards and chat rooms, personal Internet use was cited by 44.7% of respondents as their primary time-wasting activity at work. Socializing with co-workers, at 23.4%, was the second highest time-wasting activity at work.
Of course, workers had reasons for not working all the time.
It seems strange that the Internet, which makes workers more efficient by enabling them to accomplish multiple tasks in a shorter amount of time, should be the biggest thief of time. But, as Samara Jaffe of AOL noted, 'It's interesting that the Internet was cited as the leading time-wasting activity. It goes to show how integrated it has become to the daily functions of our personal and professional lives.'
As far as who is wasting time, the survey found little difference between men and women. The survey did find differences in the amount of time wasted on the job by industry. Insurance workers seem to be the biggest slackers.
For more information on this subject, browse the eStat Database, with hundreds of charts, articles and reports focusing on Internet use at work."
"Published: July 19, 2005
(After July 27, 2005, this article will only be available to eStat Database subscribers.)
A new survey finds that the average American worker wastes over two hours a day — much of it online — costing industry billions a year.
Employers expect workers to waste time every day, but only about an hour. They may be paying for more waste than they bargained for.
According to a survey of over 10,000 employees conducted by America Online (AOL) and Salary.com, the average worker admits to frittering away 2.09 hours a day, not counting lunch. Over the course of a year (and even after accounting for time employers expect to be wasted), that adds up to a $759 billion productivity loss.
'A certain amount of slacking off is already built into the salary structure,' said Bill Coleman of Salary.com. 'But our survey results show that workers on average are wasting more than twice what their employers expect. That's a startling figure.'
The number one culprit is the Internet. Including e-mail, IM, online polls, interactive games, message boards and chat rooms, personal Internet use was cited by 44.7% of respondents as their primary time-wasting activity at work. Socializing with co-workers, at 23.4%, was the second highest time-wasting activity at work.
Of course, workers had reasons for not working all the time.
It seems strange that the Internet, which makes workers more efficient by enabling them to accomplish multiple tasks in a shorter amount of time, should be the biggest thief of time. But, as Samara Jaffe of AOL noted, 'It's interesting that the Internet was cited as the leading time-wasting activity. It goes to show how integrated it has become to the daily functions of our personal and professional lives.'
As far as who is wasting time, the survey found little difference between men and women. The survey did find differences in the amount of time wasted on the job by industry. Insurance workers seem to be the biggest slackers.
For more information on this subject, browse the eStat Database, with hundreds of charts, articles and reports focusing on Internet use at work."
Comments:
Post a Comment
