$63 Billion Lost Because You're Reading this at Work

You always need to consider the source. A press release yesterday from a company called Websense says that Internet misuse is costing corporate America more than $63 billion annually in lost productivity. The release sites Dataquest, which estimates more than 57 million workers in the U.S. currently have web access, then goes on to say IDC reports as much as 40 percent of employee Internet use is non-work-related, as workers check out entertainment, shopping, and porn (oh my) at work. Websense then does a little math and bases its $63 billion productivity loss figure on the average U.S. salary, as reported in the most recent U.S. Census, and one hour of non-work-related surfing per employee per week. (Note: The Register does more math and breaks the claim down to $2,000 per second) It all sounds really interesting until you realize that Websense makes software that allows your boss to limit your Internet access, hence increasing your productivity, hence saving the company's bacon. What Websense doesn't take into account is how much companies save on phone bills by using email, how much time is saved doing research on the Internet for silly little tidbits that used to take a phone call and a fax (and another phone call and another fax). Hey, maybe employees are even reading about stuff like new computer hardware that could save the company money. Back in the old days, folks still figured out ways to waste time, like cigarette breaks, water cooler chats, talking on the phone, and so on. That type of data is pretty difficult to factor in. Unless you have an actual office with a door and not a veal-fattening pen, you have to be pretty sneaky to figure out how to check out porn sites without getting busted. The product might be quite useful in some applications, but number bending probably isn't going to attract customers.