Computer at work is being used to shop

"We know from previous surveys that more than two-thirds of adult workers aren't satisfied with their ability to balance their work and personal lives. With growing personal responsibilities and increasing hours on the job, the line between home and work continues to blur."

While the two surveys did not compare this year's figures with those from last year or any other period, Byrne said Overstock is seeing more people than ever shopping for gifts online from home.

"In the last two years, there's been another bump as more homes have gotten high-speed connections, so there's a lot of shopping going on at home, too. But until about two years ago, Internet shopping was basically a from-work phenomenon," he said.

And if the holiday-shopping-online-at-work figures seem high, Byrne said holiday gift shopping from work actually is proportionately smaller than online shopping during the remainder of the year.

"During the normal part of the year, there's probably two-thirds of our business from work and a third from home, and I'll bet it's more like 50-50 during the holiday season," he said.

But what about Overstock's employees? Are they spending work time hunched over a keyboard, buying a Christmas gift for Junior?

"We have a fairly liberal Internet usage policy because we're an Internet site. The answer is yes, only as long as they're shopping Overstock," Byrne said with a chuckle.

Other tidbits from the Spherion survey showed:

• Workers in their 30s are most likely to shop online at work during the holidays. Thirty-seven percent of that age group report Internet holiday gift shopping or buying. People between 50 and 64 years old were least likely — only 17 percent.

• Women typically spent more time shopping per online visit than men. Thirty-eight percent of women respondents indicated they spent a half-hour or more each time they shopped online at work. Among men, 41 percent said they spent 15 to 30 minutes and 36 percent said they took less than 15 minutes per visit.

• Employers usually do not block workers' access to retail Internet sites, although 21 percent of responding workers said they do not have computer access at work anyway and 17 percent either did not know or are not sure whether their bosses block access.

Whether gaining customers from work or home, online retailers have had a better-than-expected start to the holiday season, according to one Internet research firm that tracks online sales.