South Africans tend to decline friend requests from bosses and colleagues - report

Accept a friend request from your boss or colleague? Naah! South Africans draw the line when it comes to their work and private lives.

A new study by Kaspersky, a multinational cybersecurity and anti-virus provider, found that 64% of South Africans have chosen to keep their private lives separate from their work lives.

Another 60% said they would rather not disclose their activities to their colleagues.

According to a Businesstech report, Kaspersky said, globally, the average employee spends 13 years and two months at work during their lifetime.

"Interestingly though, not all this time is directly related to solving work tasks or earning a promotion: almost two thirds (64%) of consumers admit visiting non-work websites every day from their desk."

In an interview on CapeTalk the organisation said it worked with partner companies in South Africa to conduct the research. It said the findings were in line with international trends.

"The Internet is a connected world so we can't segregate it 100% but you can put some rules, we can make some things more professional," said Kaspersky's Ramy Al Damati.