Cyberslacking refers to staff who use their work internet access for personal reasons while maintaining the appearance of working. That is also known as goldbricking, "Buca-ing" cyberloafing or cyberbludging, and can lead to inefficiency.

Some estimate cyberslacking costs employers $1 billion a year in computer resources. Office workers from the People's Republic of China

People's Republic of China

China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

 are considered by some to cyberslack the most internationally. Some employees do two non-work activities at once, a practice known as multishirking.
Instances of cyberslacking have increased markedly since broadband

Broadband

The term broadband refers to a telecommunications signal or device of greater bandwidth, in some sense, than another standard or usual signal or device . Different criteria for "broad" have been applied in different contexts and at different times...

 Internet connections became commonplace in workplaces. Before that the slow speed of dial-up connections meant that the practice was rarely worthwhile. Many firms employ surveillance

Surveillance

Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...

 software to track employees' Internet activity in an effort to limit liability and improve productivity

Productivity

Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...

. Other methods used to reduce cyberslacking include installation of proxy server

Proxy server

In computer networks, a proxy server is a server that acts as an intermediary for requests from clients seeking resources from other servers. A client connects to the proxy server, requesting some service, such as a file, connection, web page, or other resource available from a different server...

s to prevent programs from accessing resources like Internet Relay Chat

Internet Relay Chat

Internet Relay Chat is a protocol for real-time Internet text messaging or synchronous conferencing. It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfer, including file...

, AOL Instant Messenger

AOL Instant Messenger

AOL Instant Messenger is an instant messaging and presence computer program which uses the proprietary OSCAR instant messaging protocol and the TOC protocol to allow registered users to communicate in real time. It was released by AOL in May 1997...

, or some online gambling

Online gambling

Online gambling, also known as Internet gambling and iGambling, is a general term for gambling using the Internet.-Online poker:Online poker tables commonly offer Texas hold 'em, Omaha, Seven-card stud, razz, HORSE and other game types in both tournament and ring game structures...

 services, strict disciplinary measures for employees found cyberslacking, and carrot and stick

Carrot and stick

Carrot and stick is an idiom that refers to a policy of offering a combination of rewards and punishment to induce behavior. It is named in reference to a cart driver dangling a carrot in front of a mule and holding a stick behind it...

measures like providing free or subsidized Internet access for employees outside of working hours.

External links

• Don't let your boss catch you reading this Corinne Heller, Reuters, Aug. 29, 2007
• The high cost of cyberslacking
• Cyberslacking Is Internet Misuse Costing Your Business?
• Naughton, Keith; Raymond, Joan; Shulman, Ken; Struzzi, Diane: