With all the happenings in the world --- ranging from a small earthquake in the Los Angeles area to pre-Olympic Games activities --- what’s a piece on “swearing at work can harm your career prospects” doing as one of the major news events heard Wednesday on top-of-the-hour ABC News on radio, wonders Grumpy Editor.
Anyone who is on a company payroll or wearing a suit in job hunting should be well aware that repeatedly uttering naughty words is not tolerated in the business world.
(An exception might be when brass at a major Madison Ave. advertising agency, for example, is notified it is losing a big account.)
Yet, grabbing the attention of ABC News on a hot July day was a press release from CareerBuilder, Chicago, noting 64 percent of employers say they would think less of a worker who repeatedly uses curse words, while 57 percent say they'd be less likely to promote someone who swears in the office.
Seeking more information, Grumpy Editor finds the Harris Interactive survey includes more than 2,000 hiring managers and 3,800 workers in companies of various sizes, according to CareerBuilder which describes itself as “the global leader in human capital solutions.”
Noteworthy, though, is that the survey reports 51 percent of workers swear that they swear in the office.
(Perhaps that’s after they receive their paychecks.)
Some 95 percent confess they cuss in the presence of co-workers, 51 percent say they do so in front of the boss, although workers were least likely to use expletives while facing senior leaders (13 percent) and their clients (7 percent), according to the survey.
(Saying salty words in front of a vice president is a sure way to get replaced.)
Among other survey findings in modern office culture: Men are more likely to swear at work (54 percent) vs. women (47 percent); Washington, D.C. (home of Congress, the White House and 13,000 registered lobbyists) is the top-swearing U.S. city, and 35 to 44-year-old workers rank as the top swearing group.
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