Internet a Boon for Office Productivity--and Goofing Off

You might want to read that personal e-mail again carefully before you send it out. And if you’re shopping on the Internet from your office, take a look over your shoulder every now and then.

Though the great majority of people with Internet access at work say that the connection has made them more productive, 17% also say they know someone who has been disciplined or fired because of his or her use of the Internet on the job.

Of the 11 million workers who go online only from their jobs, half said they goof off rather than work on the Internet at least once on a typical day, according to the Pew Center Project on the Internet and American Life.

Some 38 million people, or 37% of full-time workers, are able to use the Internet at work, the study found. Two-thirds said they go online at least once a day. Part-time workers reported only half the rate of Internet access at work that full-time workers enjoy.

Of wired workers, 55% are male, compared with an entire Internet population that is split evenly between women and men. And 51% of those who use the Internet at work have either a college or graduate degree.

Seventy-two percent of wired workers said the Internet has improved their ability to do their jobs. Most said they do job-related research and use e-mail.

The figures are based on telephone interviews of 12,571 adults conducted between March 1 and Aug. 15.

Karen Alexander covers high technology for The Times. She can be reached at (714) 966-5637 or at karen.alexander@latimes.com.