THE next generation of managers in Britain are Internet addicts who indulge their personal habits at work, and they would quit if their bosses were to restrict Web access during office hours.

These were the findings of a survey on office workers conducted for global network solutions provider Telindus and recently published on the company's website.

According to the poll, those aged 18 to 24 said they log on to social websites (80 per cent), download music (63 per cent) and watch videos (58 per cent) during office hours.

However, they were also more likely to be upset and complain about slow work-related applications, even though they were the ones hogging the system's bandwidth for their own use.

And if their bosses were to restrict personal Internet usage at work, 39 per cent of this age group would consider leaving the company.

The older generations, however, were less concerned about their access being restricted - only 16 per cent of those aged 25 to 65 said they would consider tendering their resignation.

Nearly half of the employees polled believed that it would be better to restrict personal Internet usage to lunch breaks or after office hours, rather than banning access totally.

When asked whether they would be happy to use a separate workstation dedicated to personal Internet usage if their company banned widespread access to certain websites, nearly 40 per cent said they would use it once or twice a day. A further 23 per cent said they would use it once a week.

Only 13 per cent said they would not use it. Such a move would prompt one in seven office workers to buy a home PC.

Said Mr Mark Hutchinson, managing director of Telindus, in a report on the survey findings: "An outright ban on personal Internet usage is clearly not the right approach to tackle a sluggish corporate network."

"However, the challenge is to achieve the right balance between allowing employees personal Internet time without jeopardising the bandwidth required for business applications."

When asked which applications consumed the most bandwidth, those polled believed that the worst culprits were film and TV programme downloads.

YouTube streams and the monitoring of news sites were perceived to be the second-most bandwidth-hungry applications, followed by music downloads and the streaming of podcasts.

"Interacting in the new digital age, both on a personal and business level, can bring numerous benefits and should not be ignored," said Mr Hutchinson.

"Organisations wanting to stay ahead of the curve ball and avoid an "Internet gridlock" need to manage their bandwidth appropriately."

For more my paper stories click here.