National Workplace Survey Reveals American Professionals Overwhelmed, Headed for ''Breaking Point''
Legal Professionals Particularly Impacted, According to the
2008 LexisNexis(R) Workplace Productivity Survey
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
A national workplace survey reports that more than seven in ten
American white collar workers feel inundated with information at their
workplace, while more than two in five feel that they are headed for
an information "breaking point." The survey of 650 white collar and
knowledge workers found that employees across virtually every industry
are affected by information overload, but that the problem is
particularly acute in the legal profession - with almost eight in ten
legal professionals saying they are increasingly overloaded with
information.
The 2008 Workplace Productivity Survey, commissioned by LexisNexis
- a leading global provider of business information solutions - is the
first of this scope to look at the rising problem of information
overload for the U.S. legal and professional fields.
Broad findings point to trouble
According to the survey, a majority of employees in the
professional and legal fields feel they are close to a breaking point,
where they will be unable to effectively process or handle any
increase in information flow. The survey also indicates that companies
have not provided the right tools employees need to cope with this
growing information burden. Survey results reveal:
-- Sixty-two percent of professionals report that they spend a
lot of time sifting through irrelevant information to find
what they need; 68 percent wish they could spend less time
organizing information and more time using the information
that comes their way;
-- Workers admit that not being able to lay their hands on the
right information at the right time impedes their ability to
work efficiently; 85% agree that not being able to access the
right information at the right time is a huge time-waster;
-- More than 40 percent of the survey participants indicate an
inability to handle future increases in information flow;
-- While an average workday for white collar workers is 8.89
hours, the survey finds that on average, 7.89 working hours
are used conducting research, attending meetings, and
searching for previously created documents, and;
-- White collar professionals spend an average of 2.3 hours daily
conducting online research, with one in ten spending four
hours or more on an average day.
"The information age has brought the American professional
workforce to an information overload," said Mike Walsh, CEO of
LexisNexis U.S. Legal Markets. "The results of the survey clearly
suggest opportunities for American businesses to ease this growing
burden by providing workers with the right technology, training and
tools. Companies that take action on this issue will realize higher
employee productivity and satisfaction."
Legal Professionals Seek Answers
In the legal field, the issue is even more pressing. Eighty
percent of legal professionals feel overloaded with information, and
70 percent say they spend a lot of time sifting through irrelevant
information. Nearly half say that research takes up so much of their
time that they occasionally omit billing clients for this work.
Other survey findings that demonstrate challenges for the legal
industry and point to some solutions include:
-- 90 percent of legal professionals agree that not being able to
access the right information at the right time is a huge
time-waster;
-- 95 percent of legal professionals believe that a legal
research tool designed for their specific area of practice is
important;
-- 79 percent think it is important to have a legal research tool
that integrates research into workflow;
-- 78 percent feel that it is important to have a legal research
tool that provides analysis and expertise, and;
-- On average, legal professionals say they handle 36.7 emails
daily, with 22 percent reporting that they receive 50 or more
work-related emails in a typical day.
"While the LexisNexis study points out that legal professionals
are even more inundated than your average white collar professional,
the results also suggest some possible ways technology can help them
cope with the ever-increasing amount of information coming through
their doors," said Allan McLaughlin, senior vice president of
research, litigation and business information solutions for
LexisNexis. "In particular, online and software solutions in the area
of legal research help professionals retrieve the most relevant
information faster and within the context of their normal workflow."
About the Workplace Productivity Survey
LexisNexis sponsored the 2008 National Workplace Productivity
Survey. The national study included 650 white collar and knowledge
workers in more than 23 different sectors, including 250 professionals
from the legal industry and 400 non-legal white collar professionals.
It was fielded by WorldOne research, an international market research
agency, specializing in the collection and analysis of data for
leading market research organizations, consulting firms and
corporations. The findings are available online at
(www.lexisnexis.com/literature/pdf/
Workplace_Productivity_Survey_Results). (Due to its length, this URL
may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address
field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
About LexisNexis
LexisNexis(R) (www.lexisnexis.com) is a leading global provider of
business information solutions to a wide range of professionals in the
legal, risk management, corporate, government, law enforcement,
accounting and academic markets. LexisNexis originally pioneered
online information with its Lexis(R) and Nexis(R) services. A member
of Reed Elsevier (NYSE: ENL; NYSE: RUK) (www.reedelsevier.com),
LexisNexis serves customers in more than 100 countries with 13,000
employees worldwide.
LexisNexis
Stephanie Sommese, 908-771-8685
stephanie.sommese@lexisnexis.com
OR
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
Gloria Quinn, 212-880-5233
gloria.quinn@ogilvypr.com
Copyright Business Wire 2008
