The last few days have seen another example of human beings apparently abdicating their own humanity in the face of the overwhelming power of information technology - and pretty mundane technology at that.
The Timesonline was is just one news site to report that 9 staff at Neath Port Talbot Council were dismissed or resigned after an investigation into excessive internet use in work time. It seems that those concerned were spending up to 2 hours a day on e-bay and other non-work-related sites.
Their trade union, Unison, blames their employer, taking the view that the Council “put temptation in their way” by allowing them access to the internet, and not blocking the kinds of site they might want to visit. (It appears there were systems in place to prevent access to pornography or "other inappropriate websites".) Unison has highlighted the incidence of workers becoming "addicted" to the internet - that is "very involved in eBay, Sky Sports and their favourite soccer teams".
Whoa. Hold it right there. I am not a qualified therapist or counsellor, but I sense some devaluation of the concept of "addiction" here, and I wonder if it is seen as legitimate simply because it is being applied in a technology context.
Would even a trade union official dare talk of "addiction" if the activity in question did not involve IT ? If the staff concerned had been reading the papers or any of a huge range of magazines (there's at least one for every hobby) - would we now be hearing about "reading addiction" ? What if they'd been playing cards - would the Council have had to pay for memberships of Gamblers Anonymous ?
Hopefully not. To follow Unison's logic, employers would have not only have to ban papers, magazines and telephones, but brick up all windows and put timers on loo doors.
Surfing the net is simply attractive to staff trying to goof off or just kill time because it's easy, potentially limitless, and easy to do alone from one's desk without any extra equipment such as knitting needles and wool. Being on-line is no longer a novelty, and any worker with enough to do and a positive attitude can resist its allure. I know the Union has a job to do for its members, but for goodness sake - surely we have enough basic human pride to accept this for what it is (slacking) rather than debasing ourselves before our office equipment.
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