Most Office Workers Do Something Else at Work

Some 59.4 percent of Korean office workers search news online during office hours, according to a straw poll of 707 office workers by job portal Job Korea published on Tuesday.

This was followed by Internet shopping (37.1 percent), chatting on a messenger (28.4 percent), talking with friends or relatives on the phone (19 percent), listening to the radio or music (17.8 percent), using social networking sites (17.5 percent), watching videos (5.2 percent), and others (1.3 percent).

Asked why they do something else at work, 67.2 percent said to relax, 34.2 percent because they find it difficult to focus on their work, 26.2 percent to kill time, 16.3 percent to improve concentration, and 8.5 percent to deal with urgent private business.

The biggest proportion or 36.2 percent said they read e-mails first thing. This was followed by checking the day's work schedule (18.2 percent), turning on messengers (14.6 percent), drinking a cup of coffee (14.3 percent), searching news (12.6 percent), smoking a cigarette (3.5 percent), and others (0.6 percent).

Some 77.1 percent said they can concentrate best in the morning, as compared with 22.9 percent who prefer the afternoon.