One in Three Workers Spends at Least an Hour a Day Shopping at Work

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A new poll shows many employees are dedicating a little too much company time to their gift-giving spirit this holiday season.

More than 30 percent of workers have been spending more than the average lunch break Christmas shopping online, according to new research from Ipswitch Inc.’s Network Management Division.

Overall, the survey revealed that nearly 16 percent of employees spend more than two hours a day shopping online, while another 15 percent are using at least an hour of company time to get their holiday shopping done.

"Online shopping is no longer just being done after work hours, and it appears that liberties are being taken, with many staff spending up to two hours a day shopping online during working hours," said Ennio Carboni, president of the Ipswitch Network Management Division. "In addition to lost productivity, online shopping can put additional strain on business-critical network infrastructure, so it is imperative that network administrators are aware of what traffic is flowing around the network."

While 12 percent of companies restrict the use of online shopping sites, the survey shows that nearly 30 percent aren't tracking or don't know how much time is being wasted by employees perusing the Web for their holiday purchases.

The research was based on surveys of more than 100,000 employees worldwide.

This story was provided by BusinessNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience.