Fired For Playing Solitaire?

from the what-if-it-made-him-more-productive dept

Politicians love to find actions that make them look "tough" on something -- even if the end result actually has bad results. New York's Mayor Bloomberg seems to be going down this route, as he personally had a city employee fired after spotting Solitaire open on his computer. This really isn't a first for politicians. A year ago, a state senator in North Carolina looked to have Solitaire banned from government computers, claiming that it would save the government money. Apparently, both of these politicians think that if someone doesn't have Solitaire on their computers, they'd automatically be productive workers during the time that they were otherwise playing (rather than doing something else to waste time). Of course, studies have suggested that a quick game of Solitaire at work can often be good for worker productivity. It gives workers much needed breaks that make them more productive when they are working and makes them happier. However, none of that matters, apparently. Why not judge employees on the actual work they do, rather than on whether or not they take an occasional break?