A recent survey of 18-24 year olds in the UK (no word on whether they were assistants) got some stats on what people do at work when they’re not working. 80% of 18-24 year olds log onto social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace, jDate, etc), 63% download music, and 58% watch videos on YouTube during working hours.
About 40 percent of people in this group said they would quit a job that banned personal internet use, and another 20 percent admitted they would be annoyed.
I wish I had the option of quitting any job that banned me from looking at my email. However, I think it’s pretty unreasonable to assume everyone is working 100 percent of the time they’re at work. Even if your boss can’t figure out how to use the intertubes, he or she is taking a personal call on their work line or reading the newspaper. When you force people behind a desk for eight or more hours a day, how can you expect their attention never to waver?
To his credit, the CEO of Telindus (the company that commissioned the survey) said, “An outright ban on personal internet usage is clearly not the right approach to tackle a sluggish corporate network.”
Oh, that reminds me: speaking of Facebook, join the STA group!
Well since my boss calls me at home and asks me to do “favors” over the weekend, I deserve 5 minutes of MySpace and STA a day. Right?
Luckily, I actually USE Facebook in my work. My one boss has no clue what it even is, and my other boss refuses to join because she’s afraid she’ll get sucked into it time-wise . . . and for real–I work with college-age kids and sometimes when email doesn’t work, I’m able to say, “I can Facebook them!”
so I’m lucky that way. but I have to say that I DEFINITELY also agree with Jordan . . .