A quarter of U.S. workers who use a computer admit using it to hunt for
a new job on company time , according to a
survey.
Among workers who believe their Internet use is monitored by their
bosses, one-quarter use their work computer for job-hunting, according to
research conducted for professional staffing
company Hudson Highland Group Inc.
"It's one of the ways employees deal with work-life balance issues,"
said Robert Morgan, chief operating officer at Hudson Talent Management,
one of the company's divisions. "Because we're spending so much time at
work, that's the only time we have to schedule some of those
appointments."
One-third of workers who think their managers are unaware of their
personal Web surfing use their work computer to find a new job, according
to the study.
Half of the workers surveyed said their companies monitor their
computer use, while three-quarters said they believe their bosses know how
much they use the Internet for nonwork activities.
Job-hunters may not be overly concerned about what their bosses know,
Morgan said.
"Once they've made that decision to make a job change, they're probably
less concerned about their current employer finding out," he said.
"What employers really need to focus their efforts on is why are people
looking for a job, versus trying to get them to stop them from looking for
it at work."
Among managers, 24 percent admitted to job-hunting on their work
computer, the survey showed. Among nonmanagers, the figure was 23 percent.
More than two-thirds of workers said they spend "hardly any" time on
personal e-mails, surfing the Web, in chat rooms or blogging in a typical
work day, it said.
One percent said they spend more than two hours a day at work on such
activities, it said.
(Agencies)
