Most US Workers Online at Work, 50% Check Work Email on Weekends

Fully 72% of employed adults in the US use the internet and email at least sometimes while they are at work, and 50% of those email users say they check their email on weekends, according to a report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life project.

The number of workers who report playing online games or working on their own journal or blog while at work is negligible. One in 10 workers say they contribute writing, files, or other content to their employer’s website; 6% say they use instant message applications. 

Some 22% of employed email users say they are expected to read and respond to work-related emails, even when they are not at work. Blackberry and PDA owners are more than twice as likely to report that their employer expects that they will stay tuned in to email outside of the office. Fully 48% say they are required to read and respond to email when they are away from work.