How about some fun email stats for a Tuesday morning? Our British counterparts at Proofpoint UK conducted an online survey of 108 UK office workers about some of the potential personal uses of work email. Like Proofpoint UK's survey from earlier this year (see "Anarchy in the UK (Office)"), this survey turned up some pretty interesting results. This time, we looked at how work email is used to break "bad news" and some common, but maybe not-so-wise, personal uses of work email.
Here's what the Proofpoint survey found...
Workplace Email and Romance
- 32.1% of UK office workers surveyed admitted to sending an "inappropriate" email to a lover from their work email accounts.
- 26.3% of respondents had ended a relationship via email from the office.
Breaking Bad News
- 41.5% of respondents had sent a work email rather than phoned a friend, colleague or business associate to tell them bad news.
- The same number, 41.5% had disciplined a work colleague over email.
- 18.9% had emailed to say they would be out sick.
Other Personal Uses of Workplace Email
- 35.8% of respondents admitted to applying for a new job via their workplace email.
- 86.6% of respondents say they arrange their social calendars via work email during office hours.
And finally, a more serious data loss prevention statistic:
- 21.8% of respondents say that they have emailed confidential corporate information from their work email accounts to a personal email account.
These stats have been picked up by a variety of publications including PC Advisor and Web User magazines. Proofpoint's managing director in EMEA, David Stanley, comments that:
"Brits certainly take a few liberties with their email but companies should expect this, as they ask staff to work longer hours at their desks. However, companies need to ensure staff don't get them into trouble if email abuses escalate. Staff could very quickly land an employer in legal hot water by sending or opening the wrong email."
For more statistics about outbound email policies, technologies and abuses in the workplace, check out Proofpoint's annual "Outbound Email and Data Loss Prevention in Today's Enterprise" report. The latest version is always available at the following URL (currently, the 2008 edition):
http://www.proofpoint.com/outbound
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