Many say online shopping is a work no-no

The holiday season is here, and the shopping must get done, but most workers say they will avoid the temptation of shopping online while at work, according to a survey out Monday.

Nearly one-third of workers surveyed by the staffing firm Randstad said the biggest work-related mistake you can make during the holiday season is to do holiday shopping on company time.

The vast majority said they will limit their holiday gift buying, online or otherwise, to non-work hours, although about a quarter  those surveyed said they planned to engage in online shopping during work hours. The survey of about 1,000 workers was conducted a few weeks ago.

In a separate survey by staffing firm Adecco, only 14 percent said they plan to do any online shopping during work hours. That survey of about 1,000 people was conducted in mid-November.

The recession and recovery has left many workers working harder – in some cases for less money – and nervous about job security. That could be mean they are are anxious about the possible consequences of spending any work time on non-work activities, such as shopping. Or perhaps they simply don’t have the time.

Still, it's somewhat surprising. For years, the idea that people would indulge in a little online shopping during work hours was so ingrained that it even got its own day: Cyber Monday, the first work day after the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

These days, however, many more people have high-speed Internet and computers at home. Online retailers also have started promoting virtual sales long before that Monday, with some encouraging shoppers to hop online on Thanksgiving evening or even earlier.

Discuss this post

And just why is this even news???

    Reply#1 - Mon Nov 22, 2010 10:34 AM EST
    Loki0124Deleted

    It is called theft of time. If you are being paid to work, you are stealing if you do personal business without specific permission. Same is true for chatting and texting. Some employers accept this type of time theft, that is their option. How would it be if Air Traffic Controllers and the likes did their shopping and texting on the job ?

      Reply#3 - Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:23 PM EST

      Also influencing this is the web-blocking software most companies have now. At my workplace, nearly anything related to online shopping, gaming, blogs or other obvious time wasters is blocked.

        Reply#4 - Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:32 PM EST

         Not to mention that most confidentiality agreements that you sign indicate that anything done on a company computer is the property of said company!  I like my job too much to risk it and thre are too many people that could replace any one of us if we were to get caught!

          Reply#5 - Mon Nov 22, 2010 1:08 PM EST

          Why risk using your workplace computer? Many people have smartphones now, so using your workplace computer to surf the Internet or shop is not necessary. Just do it on your break.

            Reply#7 - Mon Nov 22, 2010 8:50 PM EST

            My co "worker" (and I use that term loosely) spends about 80% of her time surfing, shopping and playing games. And they wonder why our small company is suffering???

              Reply#8 - Tue Nov 23, 2010 6:46 PM EST
              johnny100Deleted
              liulei123Deleted

              haha that true but i be shopping in : http://dlshoppignmall.com/

                Reply#11 - Sat Nov 27, 2010 5:25 PM EST
                shengmeiDeleted
                jingjingdeDeleted
                langmanDeleted

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                      Reply#17 - Tue Mar 22, 2011 5:05 AM EDT
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