A new survey suggests that some organizations are not too concerned about cracking down on employees surfing the Web, at least not enough to create a policy.
A surprising amount of employers (53 percent) allow access to social networking, shopping, and entertainment sites, according to a recent OfficeTeam survey.
Out of the three categories, “social networks” was at the top of the blocked list (31 percent).
For those whose employers do have a policy blocking access, more than one in five respondents confessed to frequently using their personal mobile devices as an alternative. (Enter BYOD policy!)
Workers were asked, “Does your company block access to the following websites?” Their responses (multiple responses allowed):
- Social networks 31%
- Entertainment sites 26%
- Online shopping sites 23%
- None of these 53%
Workers whose companies do block access to some sites also were asked, “How often, if ever, do you use your own personal devices at work to access websites that are blocked by your company?” Their responses:
- Very often 9%
- Somewhat often 13%
- Not very often 20%
- Never 58%
“Even if companies don’ google t block access to certain sites, they may be monitoring employee activity for excessive use,” said Robert Hosking, executive director of OfficeTeam. “Professionals should be mindful of how they are spending their time while at the office. Surfing the Web might provide a nice break from work, but it should never get in the way of it.”
The survey was conducted by an independent research firm and is based on telephone interviews with 449 workers 18 years of age or older and employed in office environments.