Attitudes In The American Workplace Poll


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Mark Marcucci, District Manager, Penske Truck Leasing

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2007
Highlights from The Marlin Company's 13th Annual "Attitudes in the American Workplace" Poll of 2007

Surveyed 752 US workers. 18 or older, working either part- or full-time
Survey Conducted by Harris Interactive^® for The Marlin Company
Interviewing conducted between May 21 and June 14, 2007
Margin of error +/-3.6 percentage points

Healthy Habits and Junk Food in the Workplace

Employers supplying more information. 58% of workers say their employers are "very" or "somewhat active" in providing information on healthy habits (as compared to 36% of workers claiming this in 2004). 41% of employees say that their companies are "not at all" or "not very active" in providing information on good health habits. This percentage has dropped from the 2004 level of 63%.
Junk food persists. 75% of US workers say vending machines contain junk food, as compared to 2004 when 83% of workers reported vending machines with candy bars and chips. Junk food in vending machines is more prevalent in larger companies (71% in companies with 1,000+ employees, as compared to 45% in smaller companies with 100 or fewer employees.)
Employee perceptions of co-workers' health. 24% of workers said that 50% of their co-workers had an unhealthy diet. Though 87% did not believe that overweight or obese employees would be more or less likely to receive job promotions.

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Violence in the workplace: what American workers are saying

Workplace climate. Nearly 20% of US workers are aware of a threat or verbal intimidation. 11% report being aware of an assault or violent act, which is up from 9% in 2000.
What employers are doing about it. 43% of employers offer training on handling workplace violence (nearly double that of 2000 at 23%). 57% of employers offer no training, despite the fact that the employees report an increase in their awareness of assault or violent acts in the workplace.
Workplace stress and how employees are handling it. 28% report being stressed to the point of yelling and screaming. 36% of women cried on the job, as compared to 5% of men. Men are more than twice as likely to throw an object when dealing with stress, versus 6% of women.

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Email etiquette and habits in the workplace

"Managing" by email. 10% of US workers say their company has used email to fire or lay off workers. 17% reported that their boss has used email to avoid difficult face to face conversations
Think before you send. 23% of workers report receiving politically incorrect email. 15% have received emails sent in anger. 13% say that they've received flirtatious emails
Common mistakes. Nearly 20% of workers reported sending an email to the wrong person. 38% have sent emails without the intended attachment.

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Employees' Attitudes about Politics

Presidential candidates and workplace issues. 38% of US workers feel that presidential candidates are not addressing workplace issues, including health care, retirement and pay
Expressing political views at work. 24% of US workers believe their top managers are openly expressing their political preferences at work.
Generational differences on talking politics at work. Younger employees (18-34) more comfortable expressing their political views than those age 50 or older.

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Additional results from the 2007 "Attitudes in the American Workplace" poll will be released in mid-September 2007.

2006
Highlights from The Marlin Company’s 12^th Annual "Attitudes in the American Workplace" Poll of 2006

Surveyed 751 US workers. 18 and older, working either full-time or part-time
Survey conducted by Harris Interactive® for The Marlin Company
Interviewing conducted from May 30 and June 15, 2006
Margin of error plus or minus 3.6 percentage points

Junk Food in the Workplace

Despite employers' attempts to promote healthy behavior, employees celebrate with sweets and snack on junk food from vending machines. 53% of workers say their employers encourage healthy behavior, yet 74% report that cakes, cookies and candy are served for celebrations.
Junk food in vending machines. 63% of workers reported that vending machines at work contain mostly potato chips, cookies and candy bars*.
Difference between how men and women view employee health. When asked if the average employee takes care of his or her health, men were more likely to answer no (29%) than women (20%).

"It’s a shame that while companies are finally getting the message out to the workforce about maintaining healthy lifestyles, their employees are often being tempted to snack on junk food."Frank Kenna III, president and CEO of The Marlin Company

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*Findings from 2004 "Attitudes in the American Workplace" poll conducted by Harris Interactive^Rfor The Marlin Company.

Job Satisfaction in Small vs. Large Companies

Employees in small-size companies are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs. 41% of workers in small companies are strongly satisfied with their jobs, as compared to 28% of workers at large companies
Work interfering with personal and family life. 46% of workers at large companies say that the job often interferes with personal and family needs as compared to 31% of employees at small companies.
Social support at work more prevalent in small companies. Employees at small companies are more than twice as likely to find social support at work as compared to only 9% of those in large companies.

"While it is tempting to take a job offer from a large company which often can pay a higher salary and provide more resources than a smaller company, working for the little guy also has its plusses. Smaller companies often give employees more responsibility from the start, are less politicized and less bureaucratic."
Frank Kenna III, president and CEO of The Marlin Company

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Goofing Off at Work

Majority of workers aren’t goofing off using company technology for personal use. 61% of workers say their fellow employees spend an hour a day or less on personal use of company technology.
Workers at small companies report shorter time spent on personal use of company technology among fellow workers. Workers at small companies report an average of 20 minutes per day that co-workers spend on personal use of company technology, as compared to 30 minutes reported by workers at large companies
Online shopping most prevalent with higher income workers. 41% of workers earning $75K+ reported shopping online during work hours as compared to 24% of workers earning $20K or less.

"Even though technology today makes it easy for workers to appear tot be working when in fact they are shopping or playing computer games, the workplace today is simply too demanding for people tot spend a lot of time on anything other than work."Frank Kenna III, president and CEO of The Marlin Company

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2005
Highlights from The Marlin Company’s 11th Annual “Attitudes in the American Workplace” Poll of 2005

Surveyed 757 US workers, 18 and older, working either full-time or part-time
Survey conducted by Harris Interactive^® for The Marlin Company
Interviewing conducted from May 25 to June 8, 2005.
Margin of error plus or minus 3.6 percentage points.

Health

Male Workers twice as likely to fake being sick to their employers. Men are nearly twice as likely than women (29% compared to 14%) to call in sick when they are just fine.

Faking a sick day common. Nearly one in four workers says they faked a sick day in the past year.

Doing without health coverage. Nearly 20% of adult workers with health insurance say they would do without the insurance if they suddenly lost coverage.

“Surprisingly the survey found that in the past year, men are more likely to have called in sick when they were not.”
Frank Kenna III, president and CEO of The Marlin Company

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Flirting in the Workplace

Most workers are saying that romance in the workplace is dead. 78% of workers say they have not flirted with a co-worker.

More men than women are likely to have flirted with a co-worker. 24% of male workers say they flirted with a co-worker while 17% of female workers report doing so.

A sizeable percentage of married workers flirt with co-workers. 17% of married workers say they engage in flirting.

“While some flirting is obviously going on, what it suggests is that increased training regarding appropriate behavior is having its intended impact. We know that companies are vigorously educating employees on what constitutes sexual harassment or the appearance of it and this is manifesting itself in a more business-like work atmosphere at all times.”
Frank Kenna III, president and CEO of The Marlin Company

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Economy

Work beats winning the lottery. The majority of US workers (57%) would not quit their jobs right away if they won the lottery.

Cost-cutting taking its toll. Nearly half of US workers (45%) say that their company is cutting costs that negatively impact the quality of goods and services.

Family and war/terrorism are biggest stressors. Family is the biggest stressor (33%) with war/terrorism a close second (30%).

“The survey’s findings on cost-cutting and its effects on quality reflect what the employees manning the trenches are seeing on the job. Workers on the factory floor, on construction sites and in customer service know first-hand what is happening in the workplace.”
Frank Kenna III, president and CEO of The Marlin Company

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2004
Highlights from The Marlin Company’s 10th “Annual Attitudes in the American Workplace” Poll of 2004