RIYADH, 20 February 2005 — Internet abuse by employees is costing Saudi businesses millions of riyals per year, according to a survey conducted in the Kingdom. Some 30 percent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are losing more than a day’s work each week due to employees’ misuse of the Net.
The findings of the survey come at a time when the Internet penetration rate in the country is expected to increase rapidly following the cancellation of access charges by service providers as well as high bandwidth connections.
The top four Internet-related abuses reported by Saudi companies are excessive use of the Internet or e-mail, reading newspapers online, trying to access pornographic e-mails and pornographic websites even though such sites are blocked in the Kingdom. The survey of 100 companies showed that e-mail and Internet abuse have not so far attracted the attention of Saudi employers.
“More than 50 percent of employees working in medium and large business surf the Internet daily for varying lengths of time. They read and reply to e-mails, read newspapers or watch something in a group while on duty,” said a consultant who has studied the misuse of work time by employees in different companies and organizations across the Kingdom.
A computer engineer at King Khaled University Hospital (KKUH) in Riyadh said that a growing number of employees in both the public and private sectors log onto the Net for personal use and that this directly affects the productivity of the companies or organizations where they work. Substantial losses occur when unmarried employees, both male and female, log on to matrimonial sites (such as qiran.com, nasebak.com and ejawaz.com) where membership is free and anonymity is guaranteed, he added.
Experts warn that disciplinary cases are likely to be brought against employees who violate e-mail and Internet policies in Saudi Arabia. Only a very small number of companies in Saudi Arabia have reported taking action in cases related to Internet abuse.
On the other hand, e-mail and Net abuse top the list of reasons for disciplinary action against employees in the United Kingdom.
Unlike the US and UK, companies and government agencies in the Kingdom don’t monitor their employees’ Internet use. Some of 30 percent of American companies and 20 percent of British ones are said to regularly monitor employee Internet and e-mail use.
