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UK workers hooked on internet

Nov 25 2010

British employees spend the equivalent of almost one day a week surfing the internet at work

British employees spend the equivalent of almost one day a week surfing the internet at work, research finds.

According to a poll by price comparison site GoCompare of 3,000 workers, staff are ditching tea breaks in favour of ‘i-breaks’, which last on average six hours and 23 minutes every week.

News websites are the biggest distraction, taking up an average of two hours and five minutes per person per week.

Social networking sites clock in at one hour 15 minutes, while shopping online takes up one hour 23 minutes and online TV and videos 45 minutes.

Two-thirds of those polled believe their i-breaks leave them feeling more refreshed, focussed and better able to cope with their workload.

A spokesman for GoCompare says: ‘Brits are working longer hours than ever before, so this means they have less time to do things at home. While using work computers to play computer games or read news websites is inexcusable, it is understandable that things like online banking, shopping around for deals and food shopping sometimes have to be conducted during the day.’

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