Does Cyber loafing create problems at workplace?

                    December-17, 2021

                        Asiri Liyanage





What is the purpose of your presence at work? "You have tasks to do on behalf of the organization," says the answer. Instead, "cyber loafing" is when you spend your working hours going through Facebook or Twitter, updating Instagram, chatting or e-mailing jokes to friends, online shopping, online gaming, downloading music, or perusing non-work related websites.

Cyber loafing is a new idea in the realm of organizational behavior that has emerged since the advent of computers and cyber technologies. Employees that engage in cyber loafing utilize the organization's internet and e-mail facilities for non-work activities during working hours. Cyber loafing, on the other hand, is described as the act of employees accessing company internet access for personal purposes during working hours (Malik Saleh, Ibtisam Daqqa, Mohammad Bassam Abdul Rahim, 2018). 

According to the Ahmad and Omar (2017), there are two types of cyber loafing: minor and major. While minor involves utilizing e-mails for non-work-related purposes, serious includes working on unprotected or unlawful websites and causing damage to the organization's system.

Furthermore, according to recent studies, 84 percent of employees use official email to send non-work related email and 90 percent of employees use the internet for recreational purposes (Lim and Teo, 2005)..

Furthermore, according to vault.com, 88 percent of employees visit non-work-related websites such as gaming, stock trading, shopping, sports, and gambling during working hours, 82 percent send non-work-related e-mails during working hours, and 87 percent receive non-work-related e-mails. It was shown that 77% of employees check Facebook on a daily basis, 77% of women plan their weddings during work hours, and 20% of men browse pornography at work. Thus, Lim and Teo (2005) highlighted that cyber loafing is a prevalent and pressing issue in the organizational environment.

Although developing technology has the potential to boost an organization's productivity, efficiency, and effectiveness, bad behavior by employees who engage in major cyber loafing activities will cause problems inside the workplace. Reduced productivity, greater danger of computer attacks, staff harassment, copyright infringement, defamation, and careless hiring are all possible outcomes. As a result, the company will suffer legal and productivity concerns.

While little cyberloafing activities may lower employee stress and hostility during periods of inactivity, incentive for creativity, multitasking, and cyber loafing activities has no effect on customers, coworkers, or other interested parties (Ivarsson and Larsson, 2012).

Cyber loafing, like every coin, has two sides with positive and negative implications. As a result, the organization's management must design policies that take into account both viewpoints rather than just one.

  

References

Ivarsson, L. and Larsson, P. (2012) ‘Personal Internet Usage at Work: A Source of Recovery’, Journal of Workplace Rights. doi: 10.2190/wr.16.1.e.

Lim, V. K. G. and Teo, T. S. H. (2005) ‘Prevalence, perceived seriousness, justification and regulation of cyberloafing in Singapore: An exploratory study’, Information and Management, 42(8), pp. 1081–1093. doi: 10.1016/j.im.2004.12.002.

Malik Saleh, Ibtisam Daqqa, Mohammad Bassam AbdulRahim, N. S. (2018) ‘The effect of cyberloafing on employee productivity’, International Journal of ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES, 5(4), pp. 87–92. doi: 10.21833/ijaas.2018.04.011.


Comments

  1. Manoj ThudawahewaDecember 17, 2021 at 10:43 AM

    Employees can flood computing resources with their personal use, leading to clogged bandwidth and degraded system performance. Furthermore, cyber loafing reduces productivity, creates security issues, and increases the risk of computer viruses. Interesting article.

    ReplyDelete
  2. HRM - Esoft -Nadeeka # 23December 18, 2021 at 8:05 PM

    This is the great Opportunity to understand cyber loafing reduces productivity, creates security issues, and increases the risk of computer viruses...

    ReplyDelete
  3. E127918December 19, 2021 at 5:55 AM

    Cyberloafing, like any other form of procrastination, appears to be a negative habit on the surface. However, checking Instagram or the news can allow us to take a break and give our brain a rest before returning to work.

    ReplyDelete

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