As many employers are already aware, a recent study has revealed employees are spending company time on Facebook.  One study by Nucleus Research shows employers are losing 1.5% in employee productivity while employees are updating their profiles, chatting with online friends and tending to their virtual green patches and fantasy farms.

For instance, nearly two thirds of the employees interviewed admitted that they updated their Facebook pages at work every single day and of those people 87% admitted there was no viable business related reason to do so. In addition most of those who admitted to Facebooking on company time said that they spent at least 15 minutes per session doing so.

So, is the only answer to cut off the use of social networking sites at work altogether? While, it may seem this would increase employee productivity another study by the University of Melbourne begs to differ. The study showed employees who are allowed to surf the internet for non-business related reasons are up to 9% more productive than those who are not. This is due to the “breaks” visiting non-work related sites has on the mind. Taking a brief break from work can actually increase an employee’s concentration and in turn increase productivity.