While reading the paper version of ComputerWorld this morning, I stumbled an article reporting that more than half of Gen Y employees regularly bypass corporate IT usage policies at their workplace, and a quarter of them face no repercussions for doing so. These results came out of a study performed by Toronto-based research firm Harris/Decima, which surveyed more than 1000 workers with ages between 18 and 29 about their attitude towards technology.

Now, I’m a sysadmin, and I don’t know about you, but I think the percentage of 18-30 year old IT workers violating IT policies is probably much higher than that. Ballpark figure? Probably around 100%.

Social media sites have became part of everyday life for most people under 30, yet most of the time these sites are classified as “forbidden” by corporations. It’s easy to understand why the reported percentage is so high. While CIO might see the situation in a different eye, for most IT employees, using Facebook or twitter is just like placing a phone call to a friend; they see nothing wrong with it.

What do you think? Is Gen Y too lax, or IT policies too strict?

And are you browsing GeeksAreSexy.net at work?