American employees waste 20 per cent of their time at work on personal Internet use, socialising with co-workers and conducting personal business, according to a survey.
The 2007 Wasting Time Survey conducted by Salary.com, Inc. reveals that the average employee wastes 1.7 hours of a typical 8.5 hour work day.
Interestingly, the reasons for wasting time cover both extremes. While many employees admit to wasting time because they don't have enough work to do (17.7 per cent), the second most popular response is 'my hours are too long' (13.9 per cent). Employees also cite being underpaid (11.8 per cent) and a lack of challenging work (11.1 per cent) as reasons for slacking on the job.
"While a certain amount of wasted time is built into company salary structures, our research indicates that companies with a challenged and engaged workforce can expect more productivity in return," states Bill Coleman, chief compensation officer at Salary.com.
While the amount of time wasted at work may appear high, it has actually declined 19 per cent since the first survey in 2005.
At that time employees reported wasting an average of 2.09 hours per day and, in 2006, the figure receded to 1.86 hours. This trend is likely the result of numerous factors, including a growing economy, increases in employee productivity and a tightening labour market.
"A shortage of
labour and tighter company budgets have resulted in an increased burden on employees who now have less time available to waste," Coleman said.
"This translates into a greater return for companies but increases the risk of employee burnout.When increasing workloads, organisations should also allow a certain amount of flexibility for employees to conduct personal business or take a mental breather."
Although the amount of wasted time has steadily declined, companies are still paying billions in salaries for which they receive no direct benefit.
As in previous years, personal Internet use (34.7 per cent of respondents), socialising with co-workers (20.3 per cent) and conducting personal business (17.0 per cent) remain the leading time-wasting activities. Respondents also report making personal phone calls and taking long breaks to run errands while on the job.
The survey also reveals that younger workers waste more time than their older counterparts, with employees between 20-29 years old reporting the highest total 2.1 hours per day. The average for 30-39 year olds drops to 1.9 hours and ages 40-49 report wasting just 1.4 hours per day.
Survey respondents also feel that some of their work-related activities are a waste of time including: fixing someone else's work (18.1 per cent), dealing with office politics (16.2 per cent) and sending or responding to emails (13.1 per cent).
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