The holidays are a time when the office becomes a little more fun. The particularly festive worker may spruce up his workspace with tinsel or other holiday paraphernalia. And all offices will of course have their party. But when it comes holiday season
at the office, it's not all eggnog. Or at least not for the boss. According to a new study, 32 percent of holiday consumers will be doing more of their holiday shopping on a device provided by the employer than last year.

The study, conducted by ISACA, the 95,000-member association specializing in information systems, found a series of stats that should trouble any employer looking to maximize efficiency in hard times. Formally titled the "Shopping on the Job Survey," ISACA found that these workers plan to spend a total of 32 hours looking for holiday gifts online, on a device intended for professional use. Of those 32 hours, roughly 18 will be on a mobile device. The survey was completed by 4,700 IT professionals, in addition to 1,224 other employees.

"ISACA's survey shows that employees are unwittingly adding risk to businesses. The role of BYOD is bigger this season, so organizations must embrace its use and educate employees about security," said Ken Vander Wal, international president of ISACA, in a press release published by MarketWatch. (BYOD refers to "Bring Your Own Devices.")

In releasing its fourth such annual survey, ISACA links the rise of online employee shopping to heightened tech savvyness among the nation's employees. Indeed, the use of mobile applications among workers has almost tripled since last year's survey. And a full 29 percent visit deal sites such as Groupon, ISACA says.

But even if consumers are increasingly depending on a keyboard and not a clerk when shopping, many of the nation's leading retailers are still expanding their ranks for the holidays. As was reported on AOL Jobs, the sector plans to add about 600,000 seasonal staffers between October and early January. Though that figure represents a drop from last year's holiday total of 627,000, according to stats provided by Challenger, Gray & Christmas research firm, the employment boost is still welcome news in a battered economy.

"Last year, nearly 40 percent of the people who joined stayed on after the holidays as regular team members," said Molly Snyder, a Target spokesperson. "So there is a tremendous opportunity for people to take the holiday season and turn it into a regular year-round position."

Among the leading companies looking to add new staffers are Macy's, Kohl's and Target.