Lost in Cyberspace: The Web @ Work

Abstract

Most U.S. businesses provide Internet access for their employees. The current study surveyed representatives from 224 organizations on issues related to Internet abuse. Nearly 70% of companies surveyed had more than half of their employees online. Almost all companies had Internet access policies (IAP) in place (82.6%), outlining appropriate and inappropriate use of the Internet in the workplace. Despite IAPs, U.S. businesses are facing a severe problem. More than 60% of companies had disciplined—and more than 30% had terminated—employees for inappropriate use of the Internet. Accessing pornography, online chatting, gaming, investing, or shopping at work were the leading causes for disciplinary action or termination. Many companies were not concerned about the severity of the problem (49.6%) and/or had done very little to enforce their IAPs (59.4% use self or managerial oversight, and only 37.5% use filtering software).