British employees waste 2 weeks a year looking up lost information

Office workers in Britain waste almost two weeks a year sifting through emails and electronic documents searching for lost information on their computers, a new study has found.

The research conducted by One Poll surveyed 2,000 British office workers, and found that on average workers attended one meeting and made five telephone or conference calls a day.

According to the research commissioned by work management firm Mindjet, British workers receive 36 mails in their inbox every day, and even this seemingly small number is leaving employees overwhelmed.

One in ten participants said that they felt overwhelmed data and that it made them enjoy their job less.

“This research has shown it doesn’t take much to feel like we’re drowning in data at work,” the telegraph quoted Chris Harman, Mindjet’s regional vice president for Northern Europe, Middle East and Africa as saying.

“The way we have to work today involves assimilating information from many sources and the fact we’re struggling to do this is a very real business issue — one that will only increase as we enter the big data era.

“Something as simple as searching for information can have a big effect at a time when businesses are looking to free up employees time to be more innovative and productive in order to stimulate the growth most are looking for in 2012," he added.