The non-profit research organisation said it surveyed 1,003 people who use e-mail at work. More than half said that they receive no spam at work, whilst 19% reported that fewer than one in ten messages they received were unsolicited. About 60% of the sample claimed they receive an average of ten or fewer messages at work per day.
According to the survey, 65% of the respondents said e-mail is generally not a problem. When asked to rate the place of e-mail in their work, 52% ranked it as "essential" and another 34% viewed it as "valuable." Finally, 71% said e-mail saves them time, whilst 59% said it "improves workplace teamwork."
The survey also identified a group of respondents as "power e-mailers." Such employees receive over 50 messages, and send more than 20, on a typical day. Although 11% of those employees admitted they feel overwhelmed by their e-mail workload, the survey claims they are also more likely to "extol the virtues of e-mail" than other employees.
Finally, the majority of the respondents said that almost all their incoming e-mail, and an even higher percentage of their outgoing e-mail, is work related.
Deborah Fallows, the Project's Senior Research Fellow and author of the report said:
"We began this survey expecting to find the beginning of a backlash against e-mail – not just against spam, but also against the rising volume of all kinds of e-mail. Instead, we found that most American workers are pleased with the role e-mail plays in their job, and we found almost zero evidence of disillusionment with e-mail."
