Half of Workers Will Holiday Shop at Work

Using the Internet to knock items off the holiday shopping list is likely to continue to be the trend. In a new Internet Usage survey by CareerBuilder, 49% of workers said they expect to spend some time in the office this holiday season shopping online, on par with past years. More than a quarter of workers had planned to shop from work either on Black Friday (12%) or Cyber Monday (16%).

Thirty percent of workers said they’re more likely to shop from work after December 7. The study also revealed that a higher percentage of women (43%) have shopped online while at the office compared to men (36%).

Employers tend to be more lenient when it comes to workers using breaks and down time to get online and, in some cases, take care of some online shopping. CareerBuilder warns employees to be aware of how they spend time on the Web, however, and not let their holiday shopping get in the way of productivity.

While most companies have an official Internet use policy for their employees, workers often go online for non-work-related reasons:

• 25% of employers have fired someone for using the Internet for non-work related activity
• 7% of hiring managers have fired an employee for holiday shopping
• 53% of employers block employees from accessing certain websites
• 45% of workers are connected with co-workers on social media
• 11% of hiring managers have fired an employee for something they posted on social media
• 30% of employers monitor their employees’ email use
• 11% of hiring managers have fired someone for sending non-work related emails

The survey included responses from 2400 employers and 3900 workers nationwide.