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One-In-Four Workers Spend Less Than One Hour on Office-Related Work When Working From Home, CareerBuilder.com's Survey Finds

Workers reveal what really happens at the home office

CHICAGO, November 30, 2005 - How much of your time is actually spent working when you bring the office home? According to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey, nearly one-third of workers say they work from home on occasion. Twenty-five percent admit they spend less than one hour on their office work when working from home, 53 percent spend less than three hours and only 14 percent put in a full 8 hours. The CareerBuilder.com survey, "Out of the Office 2005," was conducted from August 10 to August 22, 2005 of more than 2,450 workers.

There are many factors contributing to the work-from-home productivity gap. Twenty-two percent of those surveyed say their children grab most of their attention while working from home. Seventeen percent say personal calls and surfing the Internet serve as the primary distractions from work. Fifteen percent admit to suffering from "couch potato syndrome," choosing to spend their work time watching daytime TV and/or sleeping. Eleven percent opt for completing personal errands, while another nine percent catch up on housework.

"Almost one-third of workers surveyed say they work from home on occasion," said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com. "Employers and employees are taking advantage of improvements in workplace technology, which allows workers the freedom to work from virtually anywhere, including their homes. While working from home may improve work/life balance, it can also create a challenge to stay motivated."

Haefner recommends the following tips to make working from home productive:
  • Keep to the same schedule - Start your day as if you were going into the office. Get up at the same time, change out of your pajamas, and stick to your normal morning routine. Lounging around in bed will open the door to procrastination.
  • Location, location, location -Don’t tempt yourself by working in front of the TV or near the radio or in front of the refrigerator. Pick a location that is quiet and structured, where you can complete your projects.
  • Plan out your day - Create a list of specific goals for the day and cross them off as you complete them. This will assure that what you wanted to accomplish actually gets done.
  • Give yourself a lunch hour - Designate a certain time for personal calls, errands, housework, exercise and any other non-office related activities. Consider setting a timer to let you know when it is time to return to your work.
  • Take a break - Taking some time to play with your children, eat a snack or walk the dog will not sink the ship. Just keep the breaks to a minimum.
Survey Methodology
The survey, "Out of the Office 2005," was conducted from August 10, 2005 to August 22, 2005. Methodology used to collect survey responses totaling more than 2,450 workers for this study involved selecting a random sample of comScore Networks panel members. These Web Panel members were approached via an e-mail invitation, which asked them to participate in a short online survey. The results of this survey are statistically accurate to within +/- 1.97 percentage points (19 times out of 20).

About CareerBuilder.com
CareerBuilder.com is the nation’s largest online job site with more than 20 million unique visitors and over 1 million jobs. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE:GCI), Tribune Company (NYSE:TRB), and Knight Ridder, Inc. (NYSE:KRI), the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 700 partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include more than 165 newspapers and leading portals such as America Online and MSN. More than 30,000 of the nation's top employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com's easy job postings, 14 million-plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more. Millions of job seekers visit the site every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic email job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com.

CareerBuilder Media Contact
For all media inquiries and interview requests, contact:

Jennifer Grasz
(P) 773-527-1164
(E) jennifer.grasz@careerbuilder.com