Understanding the Wired Workplace: The Effects of Job Characteristics on Employees' Personal Online Communication at Work

Abstract

As organizations increasingly embrace Internet technologies in daily work activities, an unintended consequence is the growing personal Internet use by employees. This study examines the association between job characteristics and a particular form of personal Internet use at work, personal online communication (POC). The study analyzes data of the 2008 Networked Workers Survey sponsored by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The results demonstrate that job characteristics explain a large, significant portion of the variance of POC at work. The findings suggest that for jobs with high knowledge intensity, managing POC could be approached from a work–life balance perspective. The study also suggests that changes in work structure, job variety, and autonomy could have significant implications for managing POC activities in the wired workplace.

Keywords:

• Cyberloafing
• Job Characteristics
• Personal Internet Use at Work
• Personal Online Communication at Work
• Work Design

Notes

Note. POC, personal online communication at work; **correlation is significant at the .01 level (two-tailed); *correlation is significant at the .05 level (two-tailed).

Note. Significance indicated by: *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.

Visit the website of Pew Internet & American Life Project, http://www.pewinternet.org, for a full disclosure about the methodology on sampling, data collection, and data management. The Pew Internet & American Life Project is not responsible for the interpretations or conclusions reached based on analysis of the data.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Guowei Jian

Guowei Jian (PhD, University of Colorado at Boulder, 2003) is an Associate Professor in the School of Communication at Cleveland State University.