Social Media Costs UK Economy $22 Billion a Year

A survey conducted by MyJobGroup revealed that more than half of British employees update their personal social profiles while at work. 1 out of 3 employees spent half an hour a day on social-networking sites and it is estimated to cost the economy up to USD $22 billion annually.

Only 14% of the people surveyed admitted that using social-networking sites during work hour hampers productivity. Interestingly, 10% boasted that social media helps to boost their productivity. 2 out of 3 employees rejected the idea of banning social media usage while at work.

Social media is huge in UK. There’s no doubt about it. It’s good news for marketers but not quite so for employers. But would banning social media in workplace help? Or is banning social media even possible? The most an employer could do is to deny access from the office’s connectivity. But thanks to technology advancement, smartphones with 3G plans are pretty common nowadays and it’s really harsh to ban employees from them.

If stopping social media usage is an almost impossible task, perhaps employers should learn how to embrace it. Setting proper social media corporate guidelines and ensure workers are spending an acceptable amount of time on it.

But again, whether they’re spending long or short hours on social media, employees are expected to produce the goods at the end of the day. In this context, the quality of work must be monitored closely…. But shouldn’t work monitoring already be in place?