the impact of pornography on business: lost productivity

As an employer, you have probably estimated the amount of time that employees spend on activities that are not in  their job description.  Because of anonymity and accessibility, the work place has become a hot spot for using porn.  According to one porn industry consultancy, 70 percent of all Internet porn traffic occurs during 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.   In a Business Week article, Dave Greenfield, a psychotherapist who treats porn addicts, said, “The peak hours for Internet porn use are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  You’ve got the ease of access.  In some cases, it’s like the company putting a six-pack on an alcoholic’s desk, and saying, “Here, don’t drink it.” 

 A 4-year-old study shows that 20 percent of men and 13 percent of women admit to accessing porngraphy at work.  Another study shares that more than 75 percent of people at work have accidentally visited a pornographic website; 15 percent of workers report having accidentally visited such sites more than 10 times.  

Taxpayers only have to flashback to the recent SEC debacle  to wonder what might have happened if employees were doing their jobs instead of consuming porn while watching over the financial institutions in America.  Last year it came to light that employees of the National Science Foundation, which is a watchdog that investigates grant fraud, were consuming porn on the job.   Before that it was D.C. government workers.