Over Half of Workers Plan to Shop Online from the Office This Holiday Season and Productivity May Suffer, Finds CareerBuilder's Cyber Monday Study

One in five employers say they've fired someone for using the Internet for a non-work related activity

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Nov 27, 2013, 04:00 ET

CHICAGO, Nov. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- More workers are feeling the draw of holiday online sales during working hours, finds CareerBuilder's annual Cyber Monday study. Over half (54 percent) of workers expect to spend some time at work shopping online for the holidays, up from 49 percent last year.

The national survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive© from August 13 to September 6, 2013, and included a representative sample of 3,484 workers and 2,099 hiring managers and human resource professionals across industries and company sizes.

While many employees save their online shopping for lunch or while on break, some may not be planning it so smart. One in five workers will spend between one and three hours browsing Internet deals from the office over the course of the holiday season and 10 percent will spend 3 hours or more; a quarter report just planning to spend an hour or less.

Is it December or is it the holiday shopping that is taking a toll on workplace productivity? Of workers who expect to spend 2 hours or more Internet shopping at work this holiday season, 33 percent feel they are less productive during December because of the holidays. Comparatively, 9 percent of those who don't plan on doing any holiday shopping online from the office feel less productive during December.

"Employers are often more lenient around the holidays when it comes to their employees shopping online, however, it is up to employees to make sure the quality of their work is not suffering," said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.

INTERNET USE IN THE WORKPLACE

With the ever-looming distractions offered by technology, many employers have had to take measures to prevent loss of productivity, including:

51 percent of employers say their organization blocks employees from accessing certain websites from work
One in five employers (22 percent) say they've fired someone for using the Internet for a non-work related activity, and 7 percent of all employers pointed directly to online shopping at work
10 percent of employers say they've fired someone for sending non-work related emails during work hours

Survey Methodology
This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 3,484 U.S. workers and 2,099 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between August 13 and September 6, 2013 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 3,484 and 2,099, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/-1.66 and +/-2.14 percentage points, respectively. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies. For full survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact [email protected].

About CareerBuilder®
CareerBuilder is the global leader in human capital solutions, helping companies target and attract great talent. Its online career site, CareerBuilder.com®, is the largest in the United States with more than 24 million unique visitors and 1 million jobs. CareerBuilder works with the world's top employers, providing everything from labor market intelligence to talent management software and other recruitment solutions. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company and The McClatchy Company (NYSE:MNI), CareerBuilder and its subsidiaries operate in the United States, Europe, South America, Canada and Asia. For more information, visit www.careerbuilder.com.

Media Contact
Michael Erwin
773-527-3637
[email protected]
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SOURCE CareerBuilder