The mood at work: Anger, anxiety and pessimism
The economy and corporate scandals' continue to have a detrimental effect on the mood and attitude of the workforce according to this New York Times story (registration required):
Some employees are questioning whether it is worth going the extra mile when asked by senior executives because, as the WorldCom scandal demonstrated, some executives are looking out for themselves, not their corporations.
For the first time in two decades, most workers surveyed said they would vote to join a union if they could, looking to unions as a way to gain coveted protections on the job.
And a New York Times/CBS News Poll found that American workers were more anxious about the economy than at any time since 1993. A survey of 668 Americans conducted from Oct. 3 to 5 found that 56 percent of Americans considered the economy fairly bad or very bad. Thirty-nine percent said they thought the economy would get worse, 46 percent expected the economy to remain the same and 13 percent predicted it would get better. This pessimism was fed by numerous factors, including the corporate scandals, lingering effects of the Sept. 11 attacks, Wall Street's woes and worries about a war with Iraq.
With 70 percent of respondents saying the economy is worse than two years ago, this pessimism has influenced feelings about job security. Slightly more than half of those polled said they were very or somewhat concerned that in the next year they or someone in their household might be out of work or looking for a job.