Time eaters at work cost € 1.56bn a year

Have you ever wondered how much time you waste using social networking sites during your workday? According to surveys carried out in the UK, an average Joe spends around 40 minutes a week which leads to around €1.56bn annual income decrease. Over half of the 1460 office workers surveyed claimed that they use social networking sites for their personal use during office hours.

How to prevent income loss

Some companies have already banned using social networking sites from their offices. However, it’s still common for others to use Twitter, Facebook or any similar sites on a daily basis even for internal communication. This shows it doesn’t have to have any negative impact on your business as long as you use it wisely. It would be a good solution to provide a usage policy, which additionally would prevent your company from productivity reduction.

What is your experience? Is this just a new temporarily concern like we had years ago related to the usage of the Internet and e-mail? Do you use any social networking sites on a daily basis in your workplace? Does it bring you any benefits or is it indeed just a time-eater? Share your opinion with us leaving a comment below.

Peter Horsten

VP Software Development Europe for Aspire Systems. Sociologist and electrotechnical engineer, a great combination that stimulates him to look for the best working software solutions for clients. Passionate about converting great ideas into new solutions. Married and a proud father of 3 great sons. Training for and participating in triathlons/runs to stay fit.