Pew Research Center releases report showing impact of Web on workplace

The Pew Research Center, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, recently released a report about the impact of the Web on the workplace, which found that technology advances have brought longer hours for workers, but flexibility to their schedules, as well as more productivity.

The center asked workers how important the Internet is to their work lives, and the impact the Internet, mobile phones, email and other devices have had in their workplaces.

“The Internet and cell phones have infiltrated every cranny of American workplaces, and digital technology has transformed vast numbers of American jobs … For most office workers now, life on the job means life online,” the report, “Technology’s Impact on Workers” states.
The researchers found that email and the Internet are considered the most important communications and information tools among online workers, with landline phones outranking cell phones.
“Since taking hold a generation ago, email has not loosened its grip on the American workplace,” the report reads.
Of those surveyed, only 7 percent of working online adults feel their productivity has dropped because of the Internet, email and cell phones, while 46 percent feel more productive.
Other findings:

  • 35 percent of online workers say the Internet has increased the number of hours they work.
  • 39 percent say they have more flexibility about their work hours, as a result of the Internet.
  • 46 percent say their employer blocks access to certain websites, and 46 percent report their employer has rules about what can be said or posted online. (The latter figure has more than doubled since Pew Research began asking about company rules about employees’ online presentation in 2006.)
  • 61 percent of American workers who use the Internet say email is “very important” for doing their job, and 54 percent say the same about the Internet.
  • 4 percent say social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn are “very important” to their work.
  • 35 percent of workers describe landline phones as “very important” to their job, while 24 percent say their cell phones and smartphones are “very important.”

The analysis in this report is based on an online probability survey conducted Sept. 12-18 among a sample of 1,066 adult Internet users, 18 years of age or older. The survey included 535 adults employed full-time or part-time; the sampling error is plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

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