A national survey of employers in the private sector found that employee productivity suffers most from smartphone use. The survey, conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder, found that using the internet and gossiping at work rounded out the top three things that caused employees to waste time at work. Employers cited the following productivity killers, listed in descending order:
- Cell phone/texting: 55%
- The Internet: 41%
- Gossip: 39%
- Social media: 37%
- Co-workers dropping by: 27%
- Smoke breaks or snack breaks: 27%
- Email: 26%
- Meetings: 24%
- Noisy co-workers: 20%
- Sitting in a cubicle: 9%
The survey also asked what was the most memorable or unusual things employers caught employees doing at work. Responses included the following:
- Employee was working on a scrapbook.
- Employee was decorating a cubicle with chains of paper clips.
- Employee brought her equipment for her embroidery business from home and was making items for a craft show to sell.
- Employee was doing doughnuts in the parking lot in the snow.
- Employee brought in a kitten she found outside and tried to keep it quiet within a large purse.
- Employee was working on her child's school project that included uncooked macaroni noodles.
- Employee was laying on a patient's bed talking to the patient while the patient sat in her wheelchair.
- Employee was watching YouTube videos of people shoving marshmallows in their mouth.
- Employee was doing some personal grooming in the break room.
- Employee was searching on Craigslist for dates.
CareerBuilder's press release about this survey can be accessed here.