More time on social networks at work than home

A survey by a money-saving website in the UK has revealed that many British companies could be paying their employees to go on Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites without their knowledge, as UK adults spend more time on social networks at work than they do at home and in their free time.

The average Briton in full time employment admitted to spending up to 1.5 hours per day on social network sites

Some managers may need to keep a closer eye on their workforce to check they are doing what they get paid to do, as new research by a money saving website in the UK has revealed that UK adults in full time employment spend more time on social networks when they are supposed to be working that they do at home.

The study came from the research company VoucherCodesPro, after the team behind the site wanted to look into internet usage and habits following a notably high amount of traffic on site between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday, when people would normally be working.

More than 1,000 people answered questions about how they used the internet. All those taking part were adults from the UK and were in full time employment. When asked to select their working patter, the majority of those asked, 69 per cent, said they worked Monday to Friday from around 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

They were asked to estimate how many hours, per week, they spent on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter when they were supposed to be working; either through a laptop or their mobile phone. This wasn’t to include in lunch breaks or in their own allocated free time during the working day, such as at lunch.

The average Briton in full-time employment admitted to spending up to 1.5 hours per day on social network sites, while they were supposed to be working; or 7.5 hours per week, which in most cases is an entire working day. The most common times for switching on to social networks at work was between 10 and 11 a.m. and 3 and 4 p.m.

When asked about their social networking usage in their free time, the average respondent claimed to spend 45 minutes per day on social networks; or “5.25 hours” in a week. That means that most adults in full time employment spend more time on social networks when they should be working that they do at home or in their free time.

Of all the respondents that did admit to spending more time on social networks when they should have in fact been working, 46 per cent blamed “ease of discreet access” through phones and on their computers as the main reason.

George Charles, marketing director at VoucherCodesPro, spoke about the results;

“It’s harder than ever to switch off. Employees do need to be careful of their boss finding out they aren’t working. Perhaps it’s best to leave social networking for lunch breaks and after work!”