Instant messengers say program is bittersweet

One in five Americans who use instant-messaging programs do so at work, and most consider it a mixed blessing that can encourage gossip or add stress, a new survey from the Pew Internet and American Life Project finds.

Overall, the experience is positive: 11 percent of the at-work instant messengers consider the tool essential. Two-thirds consider IM mostly positive, but a mixed blessing. Half say it helps them save time, and 40 percent credit it for improving teamwork.

But 32 percent say it encourages gossip, 29 percent consider it a distraction, and 11 percent complain it’s stress-inducing.

Pew researchers also found that a quarter of flash-message users employ IM more frequently than e-mail — it’s 42 percent among those ages 18 to 27. Fifteen percent have done so wirelessly — through a cell phone or laptop.

The telephone-based study of 1,399 Internet users, conducted in May and June, has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Labor

Companies taking longer to screen job candidates

Prolonged job hunting and hiring isn’t just the purview of the little worker bees. Even senior-level executives are taking longer these days to land new gigs, according to labor research firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

The average job search period was 4.4 months in the second quarter, marking an unprecedented seven consecutive quarters in which it took senior managers and executives more than four months to find a job, the Chicago-based company said.

Why?

Mainly, it’s because of deeper background checks into potential candidates, as security concerns and new corporate governance requirements mandate greater scrutiny. Plus, it can cost $40,000 or more to replace an executive, making a failed hire a financially disastrous occurrence.

“We have not seen job search times fall as they did in past recoveries, and the most likely reason is that employers are being especially selective when it comes to adding new people, particularly those at the upper levels of the corporate ladder,” said John Challenger, the company’s CEO.