World to end; employers hit hardest
It’s that time again — now it’s Facebook that’s bringing on the End Days:
Internet security company SurfControl looked at the phenomenon, and found Australian workers who keep a close watch on their Facebook profile page were costing their employers up to A$5 billion ($4 billion) a year.
Some people will believe anything. Look out for the magic “up to” — always a hint that you’re dealing with very soft numbers. In any event, these studies are idiotic, and always lacking in context. What is the “cost” of bathroom breaks across an entire national economy? Coffee? Waiting for the elevator?
That doesn’t mean I would want my employees hanging out endlessly on Facebook, or anywhere else. But spare us the nonsense, SurfControl.
Oh, and what does that company sell? Software to control and monitor… Internet use.
August 20th, 2007 at 10:16 am
[...] Ron Coleman has the story. [...]
August 20th, 2007 at 10:59 am
If you are worried about your employee productivity, then you aren’t managing them properly. Period.
Good managers focus on results; bad managers focus on process. It’s the latter who love products like Surf Control.
They are also the ones who made me uninstall Solitaire when I was upgrading their workstations to Windows NT 10 years ago.
Solitaire. If you are that bored, then you need to do something more productive with your life.
August 20th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Interesting. Does that just assume Australia or is that globally? I wonder what that works out to on a per worker basis…
August 20th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Next, studies will find that people who follow the news during the day, and have RSS feeds to their favorite blogs are costing thier employers “infinity +1″.