Goldbricking is estimated to cost companies billions of dollars a year. A 2007 survey by Salary.com revealed that about six out of 10 employees in the United States acknowledged wasting time at work.
Internet use was the leading time-wasting activity in the workplace, and 34% of respondents admitted to it. Employees cited boredom, long hours, lack of challenge and inadequate pay as the reasons for why they failed to spend this time working.
The boon of social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and 推特 has only contributed to employees' habits. According to the BBC, sites like Facebook could be costing U.K. firms more than £130 million a day.