Shopping at work

CareerBuilder’s latest survey suggests that 50% of American workers plan to spend time holiday shopping online at work this season, down slightly from 52% last year. Of these workers, 34% will spend one hour or more shopping (up from 27% in 2010) and 16% will spend two or more hours (up from 13% in 2010).

The survey – conducted Aug. 16 through Sept. 8, 2011, among 4,384 workers and 2,696 employers – points to a larger trend of increased, non-work related Internet activity met with steadily tightening online policies on the employer side, according to CareerBuilder. Half of U.S. companies monitor Internet and email use of employees, which is up from 47% last year.

"Most companies assume their employees use some of their break time on the Internet for shopping, checking social networks, and other general browsing, but when it starts adding up, workers need to be aware of company policies and any potential consequences," Rosemary Haefner, vice president-human resources at CareerBuilder, said in a statement. "With more companies limiting or restricting online activity, e-shopping season is as good a time as any to be mindful of our Internet usage at work."

WORKPLACE INTERNET USAGE
Following are workplace internet usage info from the CareerBuilder survey.
• Two-thirds (65%) of workers spend at least some time conducting non-work related Web searches in a typical workday.

• 22% find themselves conducting non-work related Web searches at least five times a day.

• 22% of employers have fired someone for using the Internet for non-work related activity – on par with 2010.

• 7% of human resource managers surveyed have fired an employee for holiday shopping.

• 54% of employers block employees from accessing certain websites – up from 50% in 2010.

• More than half (56%) of workers on social networks check their profiles during their typical work-days – up from 49% in 2010. Of this group, around one in seven (15%) spends at least one hour a day browsing.

• One-third (32%) of employers prohibit employees from communicating about the company on social media.

• 25% of employers report adopting stricter policies during the last year in regard to employees communicating about company on social media.

• 61% of workers send non-work related emails during their typical workday – up slightly from 59% in 2010. 19% send more than five personal emails a day.

• 28% of employers monitor emails – on par with 2010.

• 8% of employers report having fired someone for non-work related emails.