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Cyberloafing is a term used to describe the actions of employees who use their Internet access at work for personal use while pretending to do legitimate work. Cyberloafing is derived from the term goldbricking, which originally referred to applying gold coating to a brick of worthless metal. Today, both goldbricking and cyberloafing (along with cyberslacking and cyberbludging) are used to refer to this phenomenon. For companies that employ cyberloafers, this behavior leads to inefficiency.
Techopedia Explains Cyberloafing
Every year, cyberloafing can cost employers a great deal of money in lost productivity. To counter this practice, surveillance software is sometimes used to monitor employees’ online activities. Another strategy is to install proxy servers to prevent access to sites and services such as AOL Instant Messenger, Internet Relay Chat, or Internet gambling. Disciplinary measures and subsidized online access after business hours have also been used to decrease incidences of cyberloafing.
