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Web surfing costs firms billions

Management - News

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

The average UK office worker spends an hour and a half a week of work time surfing the web for personal use.

The CBI claims that this comes at a cost to the economy of £10.6bn a year. Its research showed that many organisations are supportive of staff visiting non-work related websites and view it as a motivational perk or a modern-day tea break.

Others, however, are troubled by the amount of use or have had to sack staff for serious abuse.

The survey of 503 organisations, which together employ over one million workers, also revealed that nearly two-thirds (60 per cent) 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.

Employers across the public and private sectors estimate that 4.4 per cent of working time is lost in this way, which accounts for 95 minutes a week, or ten days a year, at an average annual cost of £939 per employee.

The CBI, the UK's largest business organisation, discovered that many companies understand the importance of the internet to personal and social lives, and see reasonable use of the web at work as a morale booster. Indeed, only 14 per cent of firms restricted web access altogether.

John Cridland, CBI deputy director general, said that employers understand that the internet has become a part of everyday life and are prepared to be flexible.

“Many firms feel that, as long as the job gets done, there is no problem with staff surfing for personal use,” he added.

Cridland pointed out that an hour and a half a week may sound like a lot, but is not always wasted time.

Productivity and morale can increase when firms trust staff to use the web sensibly to catch up with friends on Facebook, pay household bills, or search for a cheap flight.

“£10.6bn a year is a significant sum, however, and this is an issue that firms need to be aware of. It can become a problem where staff are spending excessive amounts of time online, are downloading porn or software, or are putting the organisation's reputation at risk,” Cridland said.

He noted that no one wants to behave like Big Brother and said there was no epidemic of misuse, but called for a bit of give-and-take from all parties.

“Employers need to decide for themselves what level of non-work surfing is acceptable and then set out clear boundaries," he added.

Over half of organisations (54 per cent) restrict internet access at work, although the extent of that control can vary widely.

Fourteen per cent deny access altogether, while a quarter (25 per cent) have no limits on access. The remaining 7 per cent are considering imposing limits on web use.

Organisations, both private and public sector, with 200-499 employees, suspected the highest proportion of working time lost to leisure-surfing (5 per cent), while the lowest rate (2.7 per cent) was reported by those with 5,000 or more staff.

This may be because larger firms have clearer usage policies or have installed IT systems that regulate web usage.

A third of respondents (32 per cent) disciplined an employee for internet misuse during 2007, while 13 per cent took action to dismiss an employee for persistent misuse.

One law firm disciplined an employee after discovering he often played several chess games simultaneously with players across the globe, while an employee of an insurance company was dismissed for spending entire working days playing a fantasy role-playing game.

A local government authority sacked one of its staff for running an eBay business from the office computer, and using the authority's address in communications with buyers and sellers.