Industry specialists estimate that the rise in employees playing games has significant costs for businesses. How much does playing games cost employers? Department of Labor has directed its employees to quit playing games and delete them from their computers. and Microsoft have asked workers to stop playing certain games, including Doom, because they clog networks.Īnd the U.S. is removing some games from its employees' new computers before the machines arrive on their desks. "It was great to get the blood pumping."Īlthough Virginia may be one of the largest employers to crack down so severely, other organizations recently have started to rein in games. "I'd play it before work started," said Emerson, 34, who has gone cold turkey since the ban. Soon, though, it was as essential as her morning cup of coffee. At first, she played to get accustomed to the mouse. Some versions of Windows contain other diversions, including the card game hearts.Īccording to Microsoft, the games are intended to help new Windows users become familiar with the point-and-click functions of the computer's mouse.Įmerson, a secretary in the physics department at James Madison University, started playing solitaire two months ago when she was given a new computer. Over the past three years, several state offices have upgraded their computers and purchased Microsoft Corp.'s popular Windows operating software, which includes two games: solitaire, a card game, and Minesweeper, a logic puzzle made up of square tiles. But several computer-industry watchers call Virginia's sweeping ban - which eliminates playing even during lunchtime and breaks - unprecedented.Ĭomplaints about time spent playing gamesĪ spokeswoman for the governor said the ban was conceived because Allen and Chief of Staff Jay Timmons had received complaints from some state employees that their co-workers were spending too much time playing games - many of them pre-installed on new computers. Others have taken to reminding employees to refrain from playing games during work hours. Some corporations turn a blind eye, hoping that a few minutes of game playing will increase workers' morale and productivity. "What's next? Will we be asked to submit a requisition when we walk away from our desk or be asked to keep a tally of every second of our day?"Īs computers with high-resolution color screens and sound cards become ubiquitous in the workplace, managers increasingly must deal with issues of game playing. "It's getting to a level of micromanagement beyond the usual," said Robert Ake, chairman of the faculty senate at Old Dominion University in Norfolk. The memo was passed out to agency heads in mid-December but, because of the holidays, began making its way to workers only last week, raising the eyebrows of everyone from secretaries to university professors. An administration memo called computer game playing "nonproductive and nonefficient" and said "time spent by employees playing such games should be considered an improper use of taxpayer funds." George Allen has ordered that games be deleted from every state-owned computer. And Kevin Chisnell was wild about Minesweeper competitions with his co-workers.īut for all three and thousands of other state employees in Virginia, the games are over.Ĭoncerned that some state workers were playing when they should be working, Republican Gov. For Kim Emerson, it was a game of solitaire before work started.
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