PHILADELPHIA, February 15, 2013 – These days it seems a large majority of employees have a look at Internet job boards during work time, according to a new poll of nearly 400 U.S. and Canadian workers by Right Management, the talent and career management expert within ManpowerGroup.

According to the findings, 74% of workers explore job sites often or at least occasionally during the work day. Only 26% do so rarely if at all.

How often do your co-workers look at the job boards during work time?
Often       50%
Sometimes       24%
Rarely       26%

“No one ought to be surprised today that most employees are tuned into the various Internet job sites” said Monika Morrow, Senior Vice President of Career Management at Right Management, which provides talent, career and outplacement services to Fortune 500 companies. “While the survey didn’t probe whether this might lower productivity, I suspect checking out job boards is no more distracting or time consuming than personal phone calls or dabbles on Facebook, and employers learned long ago to live with those. Anyway, constant presence on the Internet is now a fact of workplace life and evidence is that people are nevertheless working harder and more efficiently. So I don’t think employers should be concerned by this finding.”

According to Morrow, scrutinizing job boards or social media sites may be a way for workers to relax. “People are under pressure, and nowadays many eat lunch at their desk and don’t even take all the vacation due them. So investigating what jobs may be available elsewhere may be harmless. Besides, even though most employees are on the job sites, relatively few are actually switching jobs. On the other hand, that may change whenever the job market heats up again.”

Where the job boards may provide value, Morrow observed, is by helping people to be aware of what’s going on, such as exploring trends in industries and functions. “This is about staying informed. People on the lookout for a new job, however, should be clear on one point: it isn’t like the Internet itself will find your position. It remains true as before…the best source for new employment is through networking – both traditional and also by leveraging online social sites.”

Right Management surveyed 360 employees in the U.S. and Canada via an online poll that ran from January 13 through February 15, 2013.