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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Sunday, August 19, 2007

Working 9 to 5, with hours to waste

Compiled by John MacIntyre

  • Percentage of U.S. workers who admit to wasting time at work, according to a study conducted by Salary.com: 63

  • Number of hours the average U.S. worker wastes in an 8.5-hour workday: 1.7

  • Ranks of personal Internet use, socializing with co-workers, and conducting personal business among the activities most cited for wasting work hours: 1, 2, 3

    MONEY OR YOUR LIFE

  • Percentage of U.S. consumers who say their money will go before they do when they retire, according to a survey conducted by BIGresearch: 64

  • Percentage who say they'll go before their money: 36

    IN PUBLIC

  • Median tenure (in number of years) for U.S. public-sector workers over the age of 25, according to a study conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute: 7.0

  • Median tenure for private-sector workers: 3.9

    RESPECT, SCORN

  • Ranks of firefighters, scientists, teachers, doctors and military officers as the occupations in the United States with the most prestige, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  • Ranks of real estate brokers, actors, bankers, accountants and entertainers among the occupations in the United States with the least prestige: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

    CHINESE CONNECTION

  • Number of vehicles produced worldwide in 2006, according to a study conducted by the WorldWatch Institute: 67 million

  • Number of years that annual car production has exceeded 67 million: 0

  • Percentage increase in car production in China between 2005 and 2006: 29

    HEALTHY CHANGE

  • In 2002, percentage of companies that felt that prevention and wellness were the answer for companies wanting to cut healthcare costs, according to a survey by WFC Resources: 14

  • Percentage of companies that said they were focusing on prevention to cut healthcare costs in 2007: 60

    STRESSED OUT

  • Percentage of employers who say their employees have high levels of stress, according to a study conducted by ComPsych: 45

  • Percentage of employees who say they suffer from high levels of stress: 60

    WIRED TRAVELERS

  • Percentage of leisure travelers using hotels and airlines who book exclusively online, according to a study conducted by Yesawich, Pepperdine, Brown and Russell: 57

  • Percentage who said so in 2000: 18

    CORPORATE STRATEGY

  • Percentage of human resource professionals who say implementing a comprehensive and coherent Corporate Social Responsibility program enhances customer loyalty, according to a study by Sirota Survey Intelligence: 84

  • Percentage who say it attracts new customers: 80

  • Percentage who say it minimizes the costs and consequences of regulatory activist pressures: 65

    SOCIAL WORK

  • Percentage of business professionals who admit to logging on to social networking Web sites, according to a study conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity: 65

    IDLE THOUGHT

    "There is no greater fallacy than the belief that aims and purposes are one thing, while methods and tactics are another."

    Emma Goldman, social activist

    Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca