In the past few years, the UK has been quickly moving towards a culture of remote working in response to a number of issues in the workforce. Whether employees need changes because of relocation or health issues, technology has evolved to support agile workers.

One way to support remote and agile workers is by giving employees work phones, laptops and tablets to ensure they are accessible and never disconnected from the business. Yet so many employees do not take advantage of the multiple ways to connect including home Wi-Fi and personal hotspot devices. Instead, they choose to burn through data paid for by the business.

In response to this, Majesti-Fi, the pocket Wi-Fi provider for business and enterprises commissioned research with YouGov to find out what working Brits have been getting up to on business devices.

Most devices these days are used to check everything from social media to dating apps. Male employees are the most eager to find a date whilst at work - 5% of male workers versus 4% of female workers admit to wasting company data to seek out a mate.

Out of the 10 million workers who admit to ‘rinsing the company data’, men are the most likely to use a business device to access adult content. 1 in 20 men do not do not think twice about using their work devices to watch pornography. Shockingly, those men in committed relationships were also twice as likely to watch pornography on their devices than their single colleagues.

The research also reveals that one of top uses of a work device amongst the male workforce is online gambling. Shockingly, 1 in 20 blokes use their business devices to place bets. Over a third of male staff also divulge that they happily use their work device to browse social media.

COO of Majesti-Fi Mark Baxter says, “The type of content people can access on a work device is up to each employer to stipulate. The issue here is that when people start thinking about personal things such as shopping, social media and dating, they become complacent and careless with how they get online. They will often jump onto freely available public or free Wi-Fi, and this poses a huge risk to their company devices - as the majority of such hotspots are not secure and there is a real risk from breaches, hackers, viruses and malware.”

Employers must be more vigilant with staff activity online, especially when using business devices. Investment in the proper infrastructure to control when, where and how company devices are used is paramount. This will have a significant impact on staff productivity and the bottom line.

For more information visit Majesti-Fi.

tagged in