The issue has gained momentum in recent months, as companies grapple with whether cyberbludging is a technology or a management concern.
Employee Internet Management (EIM) software vendor Websense is about to survey 600 Australian businesses to see how employees here rank in terms of cyberslacking. It has carried out similar surveys in both the US and Europe.
Graham Pearson, regional sales manager at Websense, said that IDC research had found that 30 to 40 percent of Internet surfing was non-business related.
Pearson calculated that this could equate to employees in Australia cyberslacking for at least an hour each week. This would be equivalent to a AU$5.48 billion loss in productivity for Australia, based on 27 percent of Australia's 19 million population at an average wage of AU$21.09 per hour.
He believes that companies needed to think about both the bandwidth costs and also the possible legal liabilities, for example if an employee is illegally downloading software or involved in hacking.
Loss of reputation is something else Pearson points to as a concern for both CIOs and CEOs.
