Almost
60 per cent of British workers believe they waste less than two hours a week at
work, research released by BT Small & Medium Enterprises claims.
Not
all British workers are so efficient, however – seven per cent surveyed admit
that they waste eight hours or more a week.
Of
those wasting time, old-fashioned skiving is the mainstay with over half of
workers taking regular breaks to make a cup of tea and 47 per cent admitting to
gossiping when they know they should be working.
Only
one in 10 workers surf the internet to waste time, with sending personal e-mails
only a slightly more popular way of avoiding work.
Reading
the papers remains a favourite with work-dodgers (28 per cent of employees
admit to doing it), tidying desks is also popular at 20 per cent, and 17 per
cent say they spend time looking out of the window instead of working.
Mike
Langston, managing director at BT SME said the findings showed that employers
should not be worried about new technology being used to skive.
"The
worry that many employers had that easy internet access at work would lead to
time wasted surfing the net or sending hundreds of personal e-mails is clearly
unfounded. The majority of British workers waste very little time and when they
do, the activities they prefer are important to maintaining a good working
environment."
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The
research also found that employees at smaller businesses are under more time
pressure than those at larger companies.
