Use of social media at work hits productivity?

TABUK: Is social media a cause of distraction that results in low productivity at the workplace or is it required to give employees a break so that they enjoy work?
A debate on this topic is raging in the private and public sector establishments across the Kingdom and the opinion, according to local media, is divided.
“Some government and private establishments do not provide minimal entertainment to employees and seek efficiency and speed from them in a dull environment,” Economist Tareq Koshak, who is a member of the teaching faculty at King Abdulaziz University, was quoted as saying.
He said old-fashioned attitudes run some of these establishments which make people resort to the Internet. “We work eight hours a day and establishments refuse to provide basic entertainment and demand increased productivity. How is it possible?”
He said Japan and Australia have proved their success after offering a work environment that meets employees’ requirements — the productivity of employees increased.
Khaled Dasaan Al-Rikabi, a citizen, said the absence of job satisfaction is one of the reasons behind declined productivity and not smart phones.
However, Amjad Ata, another citizen said using mobile applications at work wastes time allocated to serve people and reflects negatively on services offered by establishments.
Abdulaziz Suleimani said using applications during working hours preoccupies employees and affects their efficiency. This reflects negatively on employees’ performance and affects the serious atmosphere, which is supposed to prevail in service establishments.
Suleiman Mohammad Al-Aweiti, who works in a drug company, said applications don’t affect productivity as much as favoritism does.
According to a study by the Ministry of Labor, the Saudi economy suffers from low productivity levels in non-oil sector in comparison with other sectors.
The study confirmed that productivity was low while productivity in other economies such as India and China doubled, but it was due to the increased number of workers.
Recent studies showed that employees in the Kingdom spend a minimum of 90 minutes using various smartphone applications.
Naser Alabdulkarim, director of education in Madinah, said using mobile applications at work reduces productivity by 30 percent. “Teachers are prevented from using these programs inside classrooms. Students are also prevented from using mobiles as well.”
Abdulmajeed Al-Hindi, director of human resources in an international hotel chain, said using social media applications should take into consideration employees’ various tasks.
“Employees who deal directly with customers should decrease the use of these applications, while those assigned other work can use them as long as they don’t interfere with their tasks.”