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Senior staff more likely to shop online during working hours

It’s common to experience lower productivity as the holiday season approaches - but who knew some of the main culprits of this productivity drain possibly sit in the corner office?

A survey by CareerBuilder found senior-level employees - that's CEOs, presidents and vice presidents - are more likely to use work hours to shop online this year than entry-level or professional staff members.

The poll of 2,203 hiring and HR professionals and 3,103 full-time workers in America highlighted 53% of senior management employees said they would be shopping online during work.

This is 7% higher than more junior staff members who stated the same.

RELATED:Staff skip work for Christmas shoppingYour staff's 10 biggest workplace distractions

These figures possibly explain the recent rise in the number of bosses who are allowing their staff to shop online during working hours.

"So long as productivity and customer service meet expectations, many employers are lenient in regards to a small amount of holiday shopping at work," Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, said.

"It's still advisable, however, to be mindful of your company's Web guidelines, as one in four managers tell us they've fired employees for non-work related use of the Internet."

Workers in white collar industries and professions were found to be far more likely to spend work hours shopping online, with those belonging to the IT industry leading the list (71%).

Almost seven in 10 (66%) of employees from the professionals and business services industry stated they too would be shopping online this holiday season, followed by 60% from the financial services sector.

Most (58%) of those who said they would shop said they planned to spend less than one hour doing so this season.

Thirty per cent, however, anticipated they will spend between one and three hours, while 6% said will spend between three and five hours shopping.

Image: Shutterstock

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