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Internet misuse costs employers billions
Wednesday, August 22 2001
by Kevin O' Brady


Internet misuse is costing UK businesses more than STG9.6 billion a year in lost
productivity, according to Websense.

In a survey conducted by Web@Work on behalf of Websense it was revealed that 44
percent of Web-enabled employees are spending an average of three hours a week
perusing personal sites at work.

 

Additionally, the figure for lost productivity is a conservative number if
employers also take into account bandwidth loss, storage costs, and the human
resource costs of free and open Internet access at work, according to Douglas
Wride, chief financial officer at Websense.



The estimated loss in productivity is based on the survey findings combined with
an average UK working year of 45 weeks and a current average non-manual salary of
STG11.88 per hour, according to Websense.



Other findings of the survey said that one in three of those interviewed believed
that work colleagues did not like their use of the Internet for non-work related
purposes. In addition, 89 percent of those interviewed said that they found the
Internet to be addictive.



The survey findings show that although the Internet is a productivity tool, it is
now also considered to be a drain on productivity if not managed effectively by
employers, said Websense.



The Internet today has many more distractions than before, and people who want to
download certain sites can only do so at work, where they have T1 and T2
connections, said Johanna Severinsson, marketing manager for Europe, the Middle
East and Africa at Websense.



Websense also reported that employers need not have any concerns about
introducing Internet usage policies or productivity software as the survey also
found that 82 percent of respondents favour employers managing employee Internet
access.



Companies need to decide for themselves how to strike the balance between
personal and work-related use of the Internet, said Severinsson.



In addition, companies need to be aware of the work habits of their employees,
she said.



The Web@Work survey consisted of interviews with 800 workers in a range of UK
businesses with 50 or more employees in April 2001.



Websense provides employee Internet management solutions for businesses. The
company was founded in 1994 and has over 14,000 customers worldwide. 



Websense is at http://www.websense.com.