Employers have been warned to keep a close eye on employees’ social media habits after a poll revealed that more than half use Facebook, Twitter or MySpace during working hours.
A poll of 1,000 UK workers by MyJobGroup.co.uk found that 55% admitted to using social media during working hours, with one-third of those spending more than 30 minutes on the likes of Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. About 6% spend more than an hour per day on these sites.
The firm, which operates a network of regional jobsites, warned that the social networks could be potentially costing the UK up to £14 billion in lost productivity.
Lee Fayer, managing director of Myjobgroup.co.uk said: “Whilst we’re certainly not kill-joys, people spending over an hour per day in work time on the likes of Facebook and Twitter are seriously hampering companies’ efforts to boost productivity, which is more important than ever given the fragile state of our economy.
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“Companies would do well to monitor use of social networking sites during working hours and ensure that their employees are not abusing their freedom of access to these sites.”
However, two-thirds of the workers polled advocated some form of access during working hours.
