Web 2.0 – a sackable offence?

Inspired by this article in The Telegraph, it seems appropriate to analyse the impact of so-called web 2.0 sites – social networking and community sites like Facebook, MySpace and, (ahem) Blogger.com.

Many companies are banning these sites to their employees on the grounds of wasting work hours or even company security, but is this the right way to look at it? Are there in fact valuable business opportunities to be had, contacts to be made – valuable networks to tap into?

While there’s no doubt that it’s possible to spend hours on the net instead of in a more productive, work-related manner, it’s also possible to make important contacts – so crucial to the recruitment industry – and even to do deals. There’s also the possibility of checking out prospective candidates for their suitability for roles.

At Aston Taylor, our Consultants are here to make money – we’re quite happy for them to be on Facebook, networking and making deals. Of course there’s a social aspect to what they do, but they’re happy in their jobs and so they’re free to do as they please.

Maybe if you’re spending time on networking sites instead of working it means you’re not happy with your job. If so, perhaps you should give us a call and we can find you a better job.