IES Blog

Half of workers plan to shop online this holiday season

Posted on November 26th, 2012 Read time: 1 minutes

As shopping online and on mobile devices continues to grow in popularity, 49 percent of workers expect to spend some time in the office this holiday season shopping online, according to "Cyber Monday," a recent study by CareerBuilder.

The internet usage survey found roughly 16 percent of workers will shop at work on Cyber Monday. Meanwhile, 30 percent of the thousands of employers, workers and HR administration representatives surveyed said they're most likely to shop at work after December 7.

"Employers tend to be more lenient when it comes to workers using breaks or down time to get online and—in some cases—take care of some online shopping," said Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. "However, it is the employee's responsibility to know and adhere to their company's policy regarding internet usage."

During this time of year, it's a good idea for HR services to clarify company policies on web activity.

Some organizations take personal internet use and holiday shopping at work as a serious threat to productivity. According to the study, 25 percent of employers have fired someone for using the internet for non-work related activity and more than half block access to certain websites. Seven percent of hiring managers have fired an employee for holiday shopping at work.

Related Articles