Why Your Boss Should Let You Surf at Work

At many companies, employees are told not to spend office time surfing the Web for non-work-related purposes. But according to a new study released yesterday, clamping down on Web use at work may not be in a company's best interest.

Results of the National Technology Readiness Survey, conducted by the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business and by Great Falls, Virginia-based marketing company Rockbridge Associates, suggest that U.S. workers spend more time using the Internet to do office work at home than they spend using it for personal reasons at work.

Personal or Business?

The survey, conducted in December, looked at the Internet use of 501 people over the age of 18 and found that people with Internet access at home spent an average of 3.7 hours per week surfing the Web at work but also spent an average of 5.9 hours per week at home using the Internet for work-related purposes.

By contrast, people who had no Internet access at home spent more time at work--6.5 hours per week versus 3.7 hours--using the Internet for personal reasons.

"This shows that the line between work and personal life is blurred," said Ronald Rust, director of the Center for E-Service at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. "Totally segregating work from personal activities might result in a net decline in work performed, as well as lower workplace morale."

Setting Guidelines

Susan Getgood, a spokesperson for SurfControl in Scotts Valley, California, said she doesn't disagree with the results of the study. SurfControl develops Internet usage-monitoring tools that can alert companies when employees are visiting objectionable Web sites.

"Typically, Internet use policy reflects a corporation's culture--if it's a strict culture, then the policy will be strict," said Getgood.

Getgood said that though companies may not object to workers doing some personal Web surfing at work, they certainly don't want employees logging onto X-rated Web sites. "By using Internet-filtering tools, an employer can allow employees to surf the Web, without letting abusers abuse," she said.

Max Kalehoff, a spokesperson for ComScore Networks, a Reston, Virginia-based company that tracks e-commerce, said that while his company doesn't look at Internet use at home vs. Internet use at work, he isn't sure the results of the study are accurate. "We've found that self-reported data on behavior isn't all that accurate, even if the respondents are anonymous," he said.

Working Hard

The study also found that while at work:

• 18 percent of adult Internet users had conducted a transaction on a federal government Web site during the previous 12 months, up from 11 percent in 2001.
  
  
• 22 percent of adult Internet users had checked account information with a telephone, gas, or electric company, up from 13 percent in 2001.
  
  
• 20 percent of adult Internet users had paid a credit card bill online, up from 15 percent in 2001.
  
  
• 23 percent of adult Internet users had paid a bill other than for a credit card online, up from 16 percent in 2001.