A new study by Safetica Ireland shows some practices in Irish work environments that are rather at odds with a loyal work ethic. Some 35 per cent of employees use social media, 31 per cent print personal documents, 23 per cent browse for other employment and 13 per cent send company documents to their home email.
Because Safetica Ireland, the provider of employee monitoring software, is ever curious about the Irish employees work habits, it has commissioned a survey from Amárach Research which asked over 500 Irish employees if they have done any of the following:
• I have used social media during work hours (35 per cent )
• I have printed personal files on company printers (31 per cent )
• I have browsed for other employment from my work computer (23 per cent )
• I have emailed company files to my personal email (13 per cent )
• I have taken company files on a CD/USB stick/printed home (10 per cent )
• I have deleted, misplaced or lost company files I shouldn’t have (4 per cent )
• I have lost, or had stolen from me, a company laptop/ mobile/ USB/ CD with company data (1 per cent )
The results are rather surprising and they do not show Irish employees as the most dependable in this respect. Particularly the nearly one in four people that browse for other employment, while they should be actually doing work for the company that’s currently paying their wages. This reveals a certain trend which many employers might consider quite concerning. An additional telling detail is that 29 per cent of males do this, and only 14 per cent of females.
A demographic breakdown shows other interesting things as well. In the tough employment market it is often a lot more difficult for those over 40 years old to get a job, while those under 30 seem to enjoy a certain advantage with employers. But the study shows that it is the age groups 15-24 and 25-34, where 62 per cent and 50 per cent answered they use social media such as Facebook and Twitter during work hours, while only 14 per cent of those above 45 years old did. Similar results are also in the categories of mailing or taking company files home, where younger male employees do that up to three times more often than female and older employees.
