Workers Spend 60 to 80 Percent Of Work Time ‘Cyberloafing’

By on February 6, 2013 in News 15

FEMA - 32323 - FEMA photographer Mark Wolfe working at a computer in Findlay, OH JFO“They” are on to you, disinfonauts … via Newswise:

Businesses must deal with weary-eyed office workers who are sitting behind computer screens and watching cat videos, shopping online and updating their Facebook statuses.

A Kansas State University researcher studied cyberloafing — wasting time at work on the Internet — and the effects of Internet use policies and punishment on reducing cyberloafing.

Joseph Ugrin, assistant professor of accounting at Kansas State University, and John Pearson, associate professor of management at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, found that company policies are not enough to stop workers from wasting time at work and that sanctions with policies must be consistently enforced for policies to be effective.

The study will be published in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

Cyberloafing results in lost productivity and could put companies in legal trouble when workers conduct illegal activity or unacceptable behavior like viewing pornography on work computers. Between 60 and 80 percent of people’s time on the Internet at work has nothing to do with work.

Although organizations benefit from positive aspects of the Internet like improved communication, some have trouble addressing cyberloafing, Ugrin said. Companies spend time, money and effort trying to monitor computer usage, detect what employees are doing online and write policies for employees on acceptable Internet behavior…

[continues at Newswise]

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  • lazy_friend

    They are not brilliant enough to find a cure for cancer, so they loaf by attacking cyberloafing. Lame

  • emperorreagan

    This study is stupid.

    60-80% of time spent on the internet is a waste? Great. Now tell me how much of the person’s day they spend on the internet. If most of the time they piss away at their job is spent on the internet and they aren’t on the internet exclusively for the majority of the day, then they likely fall into the same estimated productivity as physical laborers: you generally estimate that out of an 8 hour work day, somewhere in the neighborhood of 6.5 of those hours are going to be productive on average.

    Then explain why it makes sense for an office job to be an 8 hour work day plus commute when most of the research I’ve seen on that indicates it’s probably one of the most inefficient ways you could organize a work force and an incredibly inefficient way for humans to work. From not taking advantage of natural human cycles, to spending hours on the road to go to a building to do work much of which could readily be done remotely, to building/cooling/heating/lighting said buildings which are expensive and unnecessary if not for the hierarchical & micromanaging obsessions of bone-headed management teams.

    Useless management teams spying on employees and reprimanding them might lower morale?! I’ve worked at a place where management does that – internet controls, strolling around the cubicles ever 15 minutes and looking over your shoulder to make sure you were not fucking off. There was no morale and they were basically turning over the entire production staff every 5 years. People stayed long enough to get their professional engineering license and quit.

    Drowning these two tools and whoever funded this study would raise my morale today.

    • Cocomaan

      “most of the research I’ve seen on that indicates it’s probably one of the most inefficient ways you could organize a work force and an incredibly inefficient way for humans to work.”

      DAMN, well fucking said, my man!

  • http://twitter.com/TedHeistman Ted Heistman

    Cubicles suck. If you aren’t trying to get in your co-worker’s pants, or gossiping about people, what else is there to live for? Some employer’s realize this and give employees the internet.

    The ones who don’t are basically running sweat shops. Interestingly, enough, in certain areas like Utica New York, life is so shitty that you can run call center sweat shop type operations more cheaply than than you can in India.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=742104313 Adam Goodwin

    OK, so learning lots of interesting things, finding new opportunities to share opinions with lots of people and contributing to the rapidly growing pool of human knowledge of the various social and environmental trends of our era via interaction through a computer is considered ‘loafing’. While, OTOH, renting your time (because most would starve otherwise) to someone who has access to more money than you so that you may perform banal, mind-numbing tasks that aid and abet a failing imperialist suicidal financial/economic system, all the while spending 8+ hours a day away from your family and the countless other possible necessary tasks that remain at your home, is considered ‘productive’. How long til this meme crashes?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=742104313 Adam Goodwin

    OK, so learning lots of interesting things, finding new opportunities to share opinions with lots of people and contributing to the rapidly growing pool of human knowledge of the various social and environmental trends of our era via interaction through a computer is considered ‘loafing’. While, OTOH, renting your time (because most would starve otherwise) to someone who has access to more money than you so that you may perform banal, mind-numbing tasks that aid and abet a failing imperialist suicidal financial/economic system, all the while spending 8+ hours a day away from your family and the countless other possible necessary tasks that remain at your home, is considered ‘productive’. How long til this meme crashes?

    • Bluebird_of_Fastidiousness

      I couldn’t agree more. Productive for whom? How do you expect people coerced into boxes for much of their lives to behave? I’m amazed all these people aren’t insane… Oh wait… That explains a lot…

  • Bluebird_of_Fastidiousness

    There are so many important things to DO out in the world, and humans
    aren’t wired to be office workers. We’re social hunters. When given the
    opportunity, we engage in communal activities and seeking behaviors. Hanging out in groups and exploring go back in our evolution
    probably as far as our shared ancestors with reptiles. The internet provides a modern outlet for our basic nature in social networks and “surfing”. The HR Dept is
    gonna need a bigger boat to land that fish.

  • InfvoCuernos

    Cyberloafing? You mean like what I’m doing RFN? Hard to believe that’s only 60-80%.

  • BuzzCoastin

    funny how people always assume that there’s 8 hours of work to do in a day
    when in fact, most jobs are about waiting for something to do before the weekend

    • Andrew

      Some of them consist of looking for things to do so the bosses don’t feel resentful for having to pay you.

  • http://www.facebook.com/neurolux Eric Fleming

    If the labor force were truly as efficient as possible, I’d guesstimate that America’s adult employment rate would drop to about 15%. Is that the kind of economy you want?

  • http://www.facebook.com/neurolux Eric Fleming

    If the labor force were truly as efficient as possible, I’d guesstimate that America’s adult employment rate would drop to about 15%. Is that the kind of economy you want?

    • Andrew

      How about a rotating 100% employment for 15% of the year? People could keep learning, take care of their health, travel, and even have relationships with their family members.

      • http://www.facebook.com/neurolux Eric Fleming

        If everyone can earn a good wage,then that would be fantastic.