Nearly a quarter (24pc) of white-collar workers play computer games at work, with more than a third (35pc) of senior executives admitting to playing casual games during office hours.
A survey by casual games provider PopCap Games found that of the workers that play games at work, 14pc confessed to playing during a business meeting or conference call. Of these, 65pc claimed to do so at least once a month.
Some 61pc of workers who played video games did so during their lunch hour or other breaks; 52pc played during the day; 79pc played at work several times a week and 53pc played at work at least once a day.
Some 79pc of these white-collar gamers claimed playing games offered physical or mental health benefits. Some 91pc said it relieved stress and aided relaxation, 69pc said it provided them with a mental workout and 54pc claimed they used games to strengthen their memory.
Nearly half (48pc) of respondents were in supervisory positions, and of these 79pc said they encouraged their staff to take brief mental breaks during the workday and 29pc said that more than half of their reports play casual games during the workday.
Just over 8pc of respondents to the survey were CEOs, CFOs, presidents or other C-level executives, and this group showed a considerably higher frequency of play. Some 35pc played casual games at work compared with 23pc for other white-collar gamers. Some 61pc of these played at least once a day as against 51pc for other white-collar gamers.
The online survey of 2,842 workers was conducted by Information Solutions Group on behalf of PopCap Games.
By Niall Byrne
