Survey: 38 Percent of U.S. Workers Say Candidates Mute on Workplace Issues
A national survey conducted in May and June 2007 by Harris Interactive® for The Marlin Company, a provider of workplace communications strategies, found that more than one-third of U.S. workers (38 percent) feel that presidential candidates are not addressing workplace issues, including health care, retirement, and pay.
"These findings provide a clear opportunity for political candidates," said Frank Kenna III, Marlin Co. president. "Candidates are acting tone-deaf when it comes to U.S. workers. Many voters spend half of their waking hours at work so what happens there is very important to them. Candidates need to do a better job showing that they're in sync with those voters and their key workplace issues. That's obviously not happening yet."
The survey also found that nearly one out of four (24 percent) U.S. workers believe their top managers are openly expressing their political preferences at work. Those ages 18 to 34 were more likely (33 percent) to say they have managers who made it clear which political candidates they preferred, compared to 16 percent of those age 50 or older. Additionally, the survey showed that political talk at work can make some employees uncomfortable. Over a quarter (26 percent) of those polled said they do not fit in with their company's culture in terms of politics. However, men were more likely to say they fit in the company culture, with 75 percent indicating so, compared to 64 percent of women.
Marlin notes the survey has a sampling error for the overall results of plus or minus 3.6 percentage points. For further detail on the results and supporting data, see www.themarlincompany.com/MediaRoom/Releases/HarrisResults2007.pdf.