White little has been written about the effect of social media on worker productivity while people are on their jobs, new research shows that workers do waste time on social media. The trend may be robbing companies of worker’s time.

According to new data from Pew, in its new Social Media and the Workplace:

Social media influences and permeates many aspects of daily life for Americans today, and the workforce is no exception. These digital platforms offer the potential to enhance worker productivity by fostering connections with colleagues and resources around the globe. At the same time, employers might worry that employees are using these tools for non-work purposes while on the job or engaging in speech in public venues that might reflect poorly on their organization.

The view of workers that their time online “enhances productivity” may well be false, since these workers make subjective judgments about their time for the Pew report, and outside observation is not part of the evaluation.

Pew further found that:

Today’s workers incorporate social media into a wide range of activities while on the job. Some of these activities are explicitly professional or job-related, while others are more personal in nature. The survey asked Americans who are employed full- or part-time about eight different ways they might use social media while on the job and found that:

• 34% ever use social media while at work to take a mental break from their job
• 27% to connect with friends and family while at work
• 24% to make or support professional connections
• 20% to get information that helps them solve problems at work
• 17% to build or strengthen personal relationships with coworkers
• 17% to learn about someone they work with
• 12% to ask work-related questions of people outside their organization
• 12% to ask such questions of people inside their organization

The younger the worker, the more likely a large amount of time is spent on social media while on the job.

While Pew found that many companies restrict personal time online, the rules may be hard to enforce. This leaves many American businesses at risk for loss of productive hours. As the use of social media grows, the problem will get worse.

Methodology: A Pew Research Center survey of 2,003 American adults (including 795 who are currently employed on a full-time or part-time basis) conducted Sept. 11 to 14 and 18 to 21, 2014, finds that social media plays some role in the lives of many American workers, but that role is not always clear-cut or entirely positive.

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