One in seven Facebook addictees bring their fetish to work which impacts on their productivity in the workplace, according to research commissioned by IT security and control company, Sophos.Businesses that allow their employees to access Facebook during business hours are more vulnerable to distracted workers, says the research.

Out of 500 Facebook users polled about their usage of the popular networking website, 14.8 per cent confessed to being logged onto Facebook almost permanently throughout their work day, which Sophos says is “astonishing”.

A further 37.2 per cent said they visited the site once or twice a day, while eight per cent admitted to using it upwards of ten times a day.

According to Sophos senior technology consultant, Graham Cluley, 14.8 per cent of these people have a Facebook problem.

“The results show that more than one fifth of these Facebook users are actually Facebook abusers. They’re seriously struggling to tear themselves away from the website when they should be concentrating on their jobs – disturbing news for all organisations that are still allowing employees uncontrolled access,” said Cluley.

“Several trade unions have spoken out in the site’s defence, suggesting that employers should put more trust in their workforce, and clearly the majority of people are using the site in moderation. The problem is that a 20 per cent addiction rate equates to an awful lot of loafing, while there’s also the likelihood that the abusers could ruin it for the other rule-abiding users.”

Still, 40 per cent or the majority of users said they keep their Facebook usage behind closed doors, accessing the website only at home.