At Work: The Buying Frenzy Continues

11.28.05 - After a crazy "Black Friday" when shoppers went out in full force to buy up the entire United States, many of them plan to continue their shopping spree—at work!

Today is marked, God knows by whom, as "Cyber Monday," the busiest online shopping day of the year. According to cnn.com, millions of workers plan to spend part of their day doing their shopping during their working hours.

Poor employers. They will be paying for their employees to go shopping.

It is amazing how much Chutzpah workers have shown since the Internet has become mainstream. We already know that employees waste part of their day surfing the Net, but now they actually allocate their time in advance to allow them to do their shopping.

Is the Internet a time-waster? You had better believe it. I believe productivity has gone way done in the workplace as workers spend more time on personal Net surfing. True, some work-related Internet access actually improves productivity by speeding up research and communication. But when employees use their work hours to send personal email, chat on Instant Messenger, and shop online, I think we are looking at a major breakdown at the workplace.

Are you one of those workers who will be using their employer's fast internet connections to do your holiday shopping?