US employees are wasting hundreds of contracted work hours a year using their corporate equipment for personal tasks and activities, according to new research from ExpressVPN. The survey, conducted by the consumer privacy and safety firm, found that some people spend just 33% of annual contracted hours on work-related tasks.
With the sharp increase in hybrid and home working in recent years, many companies have provided employees with work devices to use at home, including laptops, desktop computers, phones and microphones.
The ExpressVPN study surveyed 2,000 hybrid and remote workers in the UK and US to learn how they use work devices for personal tasks. The survey found that more than two-thirds of US workers admitted to using their work computer to check personal email (70%), perform general personal activities such as reading the news or researching things online (69%), shopping online (65%) and browse social media (64%).
However, it appears that some activities were less innocuous. In fact, 41% of workers admit to spending 196 work hours per year viewing adult content on a corporate device and 200 hours accessing the dark web.
In general, men use work devices more for personal tasks than women. Of all personal tasks, checking personal e-mails came in first, with men spending the most time doing this, coming in at 334 hours of work time per year, compared to women, who spend 209 hours. Men also spend more time watching adult content, clocking in at 255 hours of work per year compared to women at 130 hours.
However, employees are not getting away with it. The survey showed that 84% of employees who admitted using their work computer to browse the dark web were approached by their employer. Additionally, 83% were asked about watching adult content and 81% were contacted about online gambling.
The most common consequence for these employees was training on the proper use of work devices, with 28% undergoing this and 25% receiving verbal warnings.
“It is concerning how much time Americans spend on personal activities during work hours, especially since they use their corporate devices for these tasks. It’s not just about productivity, this behavior can impact your company’s privacy and security risk levels,” commented Lauren Hendry Parsons, Privacy Advocate, ExpressVPN.
Lauren says, “Unless you block internet access on all work devices or resort to unwanted and demoralizing surveillance, it’s unrealistic to stop employees using work devices for personal activities.” An alternative, according to the Executive, is for business leaders to ensure that they are providing employees with a solid safety education, helping them to understand the risks their actions can create, as well as instructing them on how to avoid occurrences such as phishing attacks. He adds: “Employees should understand that the use of corporate devices will be visible in some way to the company, so it is certainly worth thinking twice about using a work device for personal activities.”
Looking beyond how employees use their company-owned devices, the survey also revealed that 82% of senior management in the US expect employees to work outside office hours. This pressure to work overtime may be part of why so many employees use their corporate equipment for personal activities.
The survey also looked at the privacy and security measures that employers use to ensure online safety. 94% of companies adopt at least one form of IT security for remote workers, with VPNs (42%), virus protection (41%) and firewalls (40%) being the most common. 46% of companies also provided an IT security guide for employees.
More information about the survey results here.
Methodology
This survey was conducted by CensusWide in the UK and US in February 2023 with a total of 2000 respondents. In each country, 1,000 hybrid or remote employees were interviewed.
About ExpressVPN
Since 2009, ExpressVPN has empowered millions of users to take control of their internet experience. The company’s award-winning consumer VPN service is backed by its open source VPN protocol, Lightway, which provides user privacy with just a few clicks. ExpressVPN’s Keys password manager and Aircove router make digital privacy and security easy and accessible for everyone. ExpressVPN’s products have been extensively vetted by third-party experts including PwC, Cure53, KPMG, and others.
ExpressVPN has been part of Kape Technologies (LSE:KAPE) since 2021. Learn more about ExpressVPN’s industry-leading privacy and security solutions here.
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