Internet Monitoring Growing in Businesses
If you work in a company with more than 500 employees, the chances are very good that your email and web surfing is being monitored. Over 70 percent of large companies now routinely monitor web-related activities. Even companies with as few as 50 employees report monitoring activity (almost half the companies surveyed).
One reason why monitoring is so prevalent is because of fantasy football leagues. Companies estimate that over $1 billion per week in lost productivity occurs during the 17 weeks of the NFL season. That is a lot of distraction.
Also, companies still struggle with malicious programs such as adware and spyware that accompanies shopping while at work. Finally, email “chain letters” such as cartoons, jokes and videos still permeate the workplace and allow viruses and other nasty events to occur.
This kind of inappropriate activity does make you wonder about the American work ethic, personal accountability and integrity. While work should never be drudgery, all employees should respect and show loyalty to the workplace. If you can’t do that, then allow one of the 20 million or so under-employed people do your job.
Work and Undergraduates
Over 34 percent of college students work more than 35 hours per week according to the American Council on Education and the US Department of Education. Only 22 percent do not work at all. Basically, 8 out of 10 college students are working part-time jobs in and around campus.
College is a full-time job and very few people can work and be successful as a student. When do students study if they are working 35 hours? At minimum wages, how does working help offset the bills generated by college? Most studies that look at students and work suggest limiting work to 15 hours or less. That amount of time at work will provide some “pocket money” to buy food and supplies.
It would be great to know how closely related are work hours and academic success. Certainly a little bit of work is productive; 35 hours just seems like too much.
Tidbits
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The amount of grain needed to produce enough ethanol to fill one SUV’s 25-gallon tank once would feed a person for one year. Anyone who refuses to believe that conservation of fuel is the right answer has not done their research. Conservation will extend fuel reserves for generations and at the same time address the issue of global warming. If all non-commercial vehicles were 4-cyclinder engines, the gasoline consumption would go down dramatically. It’s not un-American to conserve; it’s un-American to waste.
Finally, over the past 2 years there have been over 3 million bankruptcy filings. The new rules that began last October regarding bankruptcy filings have made it harder and costlier for people to have debt forgiven. The rules have had some impact, lowering filings from 1.6 million in 2004-05 to 1.5 million in 2005-06. It remains to be seen if the new rules are actually working or the lower number is an aberration.
GROWTH <> LEADERSHIP <> EXCELLENCE
© 2006 3 Minute Learning LLC
