07/21/2005
Employees are wasting a lot of time at work, a new survey by America Online and Salary.com found. The average worker admits to wasting 2.09 hours at work each day—double the amount of time employers think they’re wasting. According to the survey, when employers calculate salaries, they expect workers to waste almost one hour each day.
The biggest timewaster for workers is surfing the Internet, which accounts for almost 45 percent of the distractions to which employees admit. Other big timewasters include socializing with coworkers, spacing out and making personal phone calls.
Employers waste $759 billion each year on salaries for those unproductive hours.
“To some bosses, that’s a startling figure,” said Salary.com Senior Vice President Bill Coleman. “Others, though, will view this extra wasted time that may well have a positive impact on the company’s culture, work environment and even business results.”
The survey also found that young workers were more likely to waste time at work. Workers who were born in the early ’80s, for example, waste an average of 1.95 hours each day; workers who were born in the ’50s, on the other hand, waste only 0.68 hours per day.
