Computer at work is being used to shop

There's a decent chance that if you're reading this at work, once you're finished, you'll get back to another non-work-related activity.

Two studies released this week indicate that anywhere from 26 percent to 41 percent of workers in the United States spend company time spending money on online holiday gift purchases.

Those figures did not surprise Patrick Byrne, chief executive officer of Salt Lake-based online closeout retailer Overstock.com.

"I certainly think there's a high percentage that shops, but I'm not sure they all buy," Byrne said. "I do believe a high percentage shops because we see a pickup in our traffic in New York at around 8:30 (a.m.) as people are getting to work, and we watch it roll through the day like that. ...

"We can tell when the workday begins in Kansas City because it's when we see traffic jump from Kansas City. It's all the people getting to work, getting on a high-speed (connection) and shopping from it."

Byrne said business is at least 50 percent higher during traditional work hours than non-work time. "The peak for us is at 10 to 11 (a.m.) Mountain time, which means it's noon to 1 in New York. It's lunch hour in New York and the busiest time for us," he said.

Spherion Corp., a Florida-based staffing and recruiting company, said a survey it commissioned revealed that 30 percent of the 1,233 employed adults surveyed believe it is an acceptable practice to use a work computer for online shopping or buying of holiday gifts and that 26 percent actually do it.

Direct marketer WorkPlace Media, based in Mentor, Ohio, conducted a similar survey of 1,000 U.S. employees and found that 41 percent do online holiday shopping from the workplace.

"Since the average American spends more than 60 percent of their waking hours at work, it's no wonder that a number of people use time during work hours to do their holiday shopping," Dan Wheeler, vice president of WorkPlace Media, said in announcing the results.

Spherion's survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, indicated that 54 percent of respondents opt not to use their computer at work to browse or buy gifts during the holidays and that 49 percent believe it is not acceptable.

Among those who do shop or buy online from work, 66 percent spend at least 15 minutes each time they do it, that survey showed.

"Using computers at work to buy gifts during the holidays may be a symptom of employees' ongoing difficulty in balancing their professional and personal lives," Nancy Halverson, vice president of talent development at Spherion, said in a prepared statement.