Companies are using the Internet to give employees flexibility in scheduling and workload. The Internet is a global stage filled with an endless array of entertainment. Employees with Internet access on the job are finding it difficult to stay focused on work when there is so much online to compete for their attention. According to a 1999 survey by SurfWatch Software, an Internet filtering firm, almost a third of employee use of the Internet at work is recreational. Email is likewise a problem that is soaking up employee time.
Computers are great fun but they are anything but private.
And cyber-surveillance has caught on in the workplace. Over half of all companies now monitor Internet use and email. And they are not taking abuse from the cyber-slackers they have on the job. Nearly two-thirds of companies nationwide report disciplining workers for misusing the Internet while working. And a third of those companies surveyed, ranging in size from 6 to over 150,000 employees, have terminated workers that use the Internet to loaf.