In Other News, Employees Spend 25 Percent of Work Time Reading Stupid Surveys

Astonishing. The average prole spends more than 25 percent of his or her online time at work on personal activities. That’s the word from IT consultancy Voco, having apparently just discovered that the Internet, which essentially puts a concert hall, movie theater, TV, brokerage firm, shopping mall, garage sale and family/friend gathering on every employee desktop, can be–gasp–a distraction in the workplace.

Why, exactly, this is an issue in this age of “work-life balance” and ROWE (results-only work environment) isn’t exactly clear. As retail giant Best Buy (BBY) has proven, employee “presence” doesn’t always equate with “employee productivity.” Why shouldn’t workers be free to spend some personal time online at work if they’re meeting their goals?