U.S. (office) workers say they waste 2 hours a day (Reuters)

[Up2Late]

(Shoow, good thing they didn't ask about DU...)

U.S. workers say they waste 2 hours a day

Mon Jul 11, 2005 9:07 AM ET

BOSTON (Reuters) - U.S. workers say they squander over two hours a day at the workplace, with surfing the Web, socializing with co-workers and simply "spacing out" among the top time-wasting activities, according to a survey released on Monday.

Most U.S. companies assume about an hour of wasted time, but workers admit to actually frittering away more than twice as much time at a cost of $759 billion in annual paid salary that results in no apparent productivity, an online survey conducted by America Online and Salary.com showed. Wasted time did not include the standard lunch hour.

Of 10,044 employee respondents, 33 percent said they engaged in time-wasting activities because they didn't have enough work to do. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed said they squandered their work hours because they were underpaid.

Men and women wasted an equal amount of time at work, but older workers were significantly more attentive than younger workers, the survey showed. Workers over 55 years old wasted an average of just 30 minutes a day, according to the survey.

<http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyid=2005-07-11T130717Z_01_N11381607_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-LIFE-WORKERS-WASTE-DC.XML>
(more at link above)

[soothsayer]

1. and yet our workers are still the most productive in the world!

we should have shorter work days and shorter work weeks and much longer vacation time

[msongs]

2. most school teachers waste zero hours a day because

there is so much work dumped on them that it cannot be done in a contract day as well as adding 2-3 hours of extra work after the contract day is over.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/political-shirts.htm

[Garfield Goose]

35. self delete

wrong post

[mccoyn]

3. Quick reply while the boss is gone...

I hate it when co-workers want to socialize when I'm spacing out.

[Larkspur]

4. But how many hours do these workers actually spend at work?

Are they are working or expected to be at work 10+ hour days?

[Gormy Cuss]

5. This would be why telecommuting has been so successful

Turns out that without the distraction of chatting with co-workers, the time wasting at home is considerably less than the time wasting at the office.

"Older workers significantly more attentive than younger workers."
No surprise there, because the older workers came from an era when hard work was supposed to pay off with job security and benefits.

[K-W]

6. 2 hours is nothing, if I havent wasted at least 4 in a day,

I consider it a failure.

[Up2Late]

39. To be Fair, This is an On-Line AOL/Salary.com Survy...

...which, most likely, was found by those wasting time, surfing the web and filling out On-line surveys.

[Jackpine Radical]

7. --proof that older workers are much smarter than younger workers.

We know enough to keep our mouths shut about goofing off. Even an anonymous survery has a way of coming back to bite you in the butt.

[TahitiNut]

8. As an "older worker" I agree that the younger are more wasteful

At the same time, I firmly disagree that "socializing with co-workers" is, at least to some extent, wasteful. Building collegial working relationships requires far more than robotic, by-the-book interaction. I'll be damned if I'll do that on my personal time ... with people I'd often rather avoid except for the need to work with them.

[Melynn]

9. I don't believe this study.

Most people I know are overworked, doing the job of two or three workers.

Why do I suspect that certain corporations are going to use this "study" as excuse to outsource jobs overseas?

[mccoyn]

13. Paid hourly or salery?

I've noticed people who are paid hourly get a lot more pressure to not waste time than people who are paid a fixed salery. I think its a different philsophy, are you paying for a persons time or his or her results? I like the salery philsophy better. Sure, I waste 2+ hours a day, but I still get a lot done so its worth a raise.

[Melynn]

15. Hourly and Salary

However, you are right. As former hourly factory worker, I know that a hourly blue collar worker can get in trouble for wasting any time. A salary worker is given more lee way.

[MadisonProgressive]

38. I get more done in 4 hours than most do in 8 in my company

So dammit, I DESERVE that 4 hours of surfing!!

[renaissanceguy]

17. Not only outsource,

but pay lower wages, demand people to overwork themselves, and install big brother systems. It's being done by major corporations already.


http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues/472476

[whatever4]

19. Absofrigginlutely nt

[K-W]

34. It could be that overworked people need to chat every now and again

between fits of extremely hard working, at least thats been my experience in offices.

[jobycom]

10. Those aren't the wasted hours, those are the good ones

The wasted hours are the ones I spend working. I'll never get those back!

[GreenArrow]

11. waste schmaste

Those are sanity preserving behaviours.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy...

[trackfan]

12. I have to waste time

There's nothing else to do here.

[XemaSab]

14. I feel the need to issue a blanket apology

to the American workforce as a whole for raising the average so much.

Sorry.

Actually, what am I saying? I'm not sorry. Well, I'm sorry I didn't bill more hours last week, but so far this monday is off to a great "more of the same" start. I've already squandered two hours today between the co-workers and the 'net, and the day is just getting started.

[whatever4]

18. I'm just sorry

that Americans fall for this shit. Waste time?? The work either gets done or it doesn't; the constant push for more proctivitiy from the workers is BS, because there are MANY changes that could be made to boost productivity, in some cases, LESS hours are actually better. And the added hours and pressure on workers can be quite counterproductive.

No, it's a slavemaster mentality. We will never work hard enough, can never work hard "enough". I'm just sorry we fall for it.

[mccoyn]

21. I agree.

I don't think I've ever worked a full 8 hour day and I doubt I ever will. Last year I came close, but I developed stress headaches and had to cut back.

As it is I go home and I don't have the energy to do the hobbies I had back in college.

[XemaSab]

22. You want to enter these data sheets?

They've been on my desk for 3 weeks....

[whatever4]

16. They'd rather us be robots

is my take on it. Seriously. We already know we're the hardest working nation, the least vacation, the fewest vacation days, many folks take short lunches, run errands during lunch, or don't take a lunch at all. Stress and mental illness are real and pervasive problems for us Americans, every study indicates it. We're literally working ourselves to death. But it isn't enough, socialization, reading on the internet and what not are a waste of time?

Only if you're a robot.

[sadiesworld]

20. More about the lazy, stupid, spoiled, etc. U.S. worker.

:puke:

[salminen]

23. I'm inclined to believe it

I routinely go on-site at the offices of various clients. Some of them are in the US, and some are in Europe. Without exception, the people I encounter in the US spend way more of their day socializing, spacing out, and surfing the web... In Europe, they work shorter days and get much more vacation, but when they're at work, they're pretty much working the entire time.

[BiggJawn]

30. Yes, but they pay $4 a gallon for gasoline.

American vs. European comparisons are practically worthless, IMO.
It's like comparing grapefruit and quail eggs. They're both round, but beyond that.....

I have to wonder how many hours a day the Europeans would "waste" if they had to toil under the same conditions we do?

[northzax]

37. well, there's the catch 22, isn't it?

do we goof off more, because we're expected to work longer hours? or do we work longer hours to compensate for goofing off more?

[BiggJawn]

41. Maybe both.

Funny though, isn't it, how Europeans are those "crazy people who eat mayo on their Freedom Fries" until they're doing something WE won't put up with.

Guy on the radio this AM from the state's largest Co-Op saying "well, they pay 3-4 dollars a gallon in Europe, we might as well get used to it..." without acknowledging how your average European probably gets by very well on less than 5 gallons of gas a week...

Me personally, I'm just TIRED. ever see that "Note from the Rich" where they thank us Peons for ruining our "one and only" life so they can enjoy their yachts? Yeah, that's how I feel lately.

[daleo]

24. First off, people are social creatures

Socializing is integral to our very natures. Secondly, a lot of socializing (human or web based) picks up information or creates connections that are very useful to the organization one works for. This is frequently serendipitous - you can't tell what is useful and what is goofing off until you are finished. That's life.

[bleedingheart]

25. Having done time studies and work studies, this is true for avg 8 hr day

Human beings are not machines, they do not work consistently for 8 hours. People get tired, they lose focus...

Those individual working on piece rates or attending machinery are typically the busiest. Those working in less strict environments are a bit more lax.

Does this mean they don't do their job. No.

Is age a factor, not in my personal experience.

When working on time studies we have allowances to make sure that we don't judge all people by those with the best rates. Personal Fatigue and Delay allowances are what they are called. We also "judge" people based on our observations to see if they are working at what we consider "capacity". Those working very hard may exceed 100% capacity and those working below get rated below 100%.

[patcox2]

29. I met an old guy who owned factories in England.

He was in his nineties, had managed and then owned factories in the 1930s, 40s, and 50s. He was an early time and motion devotee. He told me that when it comes to heavy manual labor, he found that you get 15 minutes of work per hour out of a typical worker, and he accepted that, because, as he said, people aren't machines.

[bleedingheart]

32. I don't doubt it especially in heavy manual labor scenarios

much of the innovation and design work related to manual labor has been to make the laborer more comfortable and reduce stress on the back, muscles...so that the individual can work consistently and show up the next day without being totally exhausted.

[davidinalameda]

26. guess they don't post on here

or else it would be a lot more!

:bounce:

[PunkPop]

27. I didn't used to waste so much time

Only since Bush was installed as president and my country started making war with countries that posed no danger, in the process killing a substantial number of their inhabitants.

The Iraq war specifically was a real "WHAT THE FUCK!" moment. It drove me to sites like commondreams, buzzflash and DU. There's something reassuring knowing there are lots of sane people in the middle of all this insanity. Work just kind of took a backseat.

[whatever4]

48. I think that's a very valid point

About "since Bush was installed", because I know *I*, for one, didn't spend much time or attention on politics and world events. The news. Nowadays, I feel compelled to try to keep up with all the BS and horrors that BushCo commits almost daily. I think it's a VERY valid point, that lately, we have been pushed and pressured at work all the more, while our government rips our world apart...and funds studies to illustrate how much "time we waste"

[patcox2]

28. The down time refreshes and energizes for the up-time.

You cannot separate the work day into the productive and the unproductive moments. Its all one thing. People need the time, there is no "waste" or theft occurring, its part of human life. When you get 8 hours of work out of someone, that means you get 8 hours of work, including the 45 seconds of yawning, the few seconds of random butt-scratching, the spacing out, the minute spent recovering breath after exertion and preparing for the next exertion.

People do not, and never have, turned into robots when they are on the clock.

By the way, do we get paid for the minutes or hours every day that we think about and plan the work day, get ideas, solve problems, prepare, for work?

[fob]

31. Hey I was just spacing out while surfing the web after socializng

with co-workers and somehow I ended up here. Did I miss anything?

:evilgrin:


PS - 2 hours? Shit I spend that much time HIDING my web surfing activities!

[PATRICK]

33. Don't Do Surveys

Company surveys. You know the benevolent ones that want to help everybody then are cherry picked for data to use against you in contract negotiations?

That is why our union, betrayed once that way, urges everyone to dump the voluntary survey.

Are you happy with your pay? Any positive answer is risky. They can ignore anything else. They trap you with the good student complex, dutifully filling out the form and then giving the appearance of allowing you to think, praise and bitch to your heart's content.

And this is what happens. Eventually, always. And why not? The business controls the survey in every aspect.

Surveys in general are things to be wary of. But your benevolent bosses?
Maybe if they are Ben and Jerry.

[Garfield Goose]

36. I waste lots of time, but I don't care

Because I own the fukkin' corporation!!! My employees however...

[SlavesandBulldozers]

40. at my salary, it's all a waste of time.

n/t

[against all enemies]

42. After screwing off for two hours - it's nap time baby.

Which makes me much more productive than those assholes in my office that listen to Rush and have their brains go dead for the rest of the day or in some cases the rest of their lives.

[slackmaster]

43. Amateurs

:argh:

[NewWaveChick1981]

44. Heyyyy...

Building friendships/relationships with coworkers is not a waste of time! It makes the working atmosphere much better and it's actually productive---if I call a person with whom I have no sort of relationship, I'm a lot less likely to get cooperation from them than from someone I know already. Given the nature of my work, if I performed like a robot, I'd be outta here in no time.

Back to my surfing now...

[wallwriter]

45. Dare I ask how much time DU'ers waste?

I myself have over 20 posts today!!

[WhiteTara]

46. wonder if those online surveys

were done at work?

[Up2Late]

47. That was my thought too.

Probably why the numbers were so heavily weighted toward the younger folks.

[leesa]

49. I want their jobs! Sounds like BS to me...like cracking down on internet

access for people

[Darwins Finch]

50. Proscribed hours are idiotic

Working a fixed 8 hour period every day is just asinine for white collar work. (Industrial work and the like, sure, it makes more sense. But only barely.)

Work should be task based, not time based. If your employer needs X done by the end of the week, and will pay $Y to have it done, then if you can have it done by Tuesday you shouldn't have to warm your chair for the rest of the week just to collect the $.

That was one of the things I liked best about my only telecommuting job so far - it WAS task based. If I got my coding assignments done by 11 AM, the rest of the day was for me. That's the way things need to be.

[mccoyn]

51. I think I would be 10x as productive.

If my pay was task based I sure wouldn't get distracted becuase I could do a days worth of work in a few hours and have the rest of my day to myself. About a year ago I was thinking of becoming a consultant for this very reason.