Study: Web browsing at work leads to increased productivity

BY DAVID YOUNG, coloradoan.com, April 4, 2009

The University of Melbourne last week released a study that shows people who use the Internet for personal reasons at work are 9 percent more productive than those who do not.

The study isn't a license to browse e-Bay all day or instant message friends, but Brent Coker, from the University of Melbourne Department of Management and Marketing, reports workers who engage in "Workplace Internet Leisure Browsing" for less than 20 percent of their total time at work are more productive than those who don't.

The report says companies are spending millions on software to block their employees from watching videos on YouTube, using social networking sites like Facebook or shopping online under the pretense that it costs millions in lost productivity; however that’s not always the case.

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