Percentage of employers who know within the first five minutes of an interview if a candidate is a good or bad fit for a position, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 49
Percentage who make up their mind within a half-hour or longer: 8
Percentage of employers who say catching a candidate lying about something is an instant deal-breaker: 71
Source: CareerBuilder.com.
Average amount of money Americans spend on impulse buying every month, according to a survey conducted by OnePoll for Slickdeals: $450
Amount that adds up to annually (or $324,000 over the course of their lifetime): $5,400
Estimated number of these purchases that are made every year: 156
Percentage of all purchases that are attributed to impulsive buying: 20
Source: Slickdeals.
Percentage of business travelers who feel they deserve to take a break from work and make time for themselves during business trips, according to a survey by National Car Rental: 80
Percentage of business travelers who think telling their bosses about fun and/or personal activities while traveling is a "no-go": 38
Percentage who avoid telling co-workers: 40
Percentage of business travelers who even go so far as to avoid posting on social media about fun times had while on the road: 25
Source: National Car Rental.
Percentage of people who find it inappropriate to call a female co-worker "girl" or "babe" or "sweetie," according to a poll on workplace behavior from NPR and Ipsos: 83
Percentage who have seen it happen at work: 58
Percentage of people who think sexual jokes or stories are inappropriate: 91
Percentage who have seen it happen: 53
Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.
Percentage of adults in the U.S. workforce who have not noticed a decent or sizable increase in their paychecks since tax cuts were passed at the end of 2017, according to a Zogby poll: 67
Percentage who said they were receiving a decent or sizable difference in their paychecks: 27
When it comes to income, percentage of respondents who earn $100,000 to $200,000 annually who reported seeing an increase in pay since the tax cuts: 31
Percentage of those who earn less than $25,000 annually who reported the same: 15
Source: Zogby International.
Average number of minutes per day that professionals spend on sports-related activities in the office during the NCAA college basketball tournament, according to research by OfficeTeam: 25.5
With the March Madness NCAA tournament spread across 15 workdays, number of hours spent per employee: 6
Percentage of employees who wear team jerseys or other fan attire: 48
Source: OfficeTeam.
Percentage of American consumers who are actively trying to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diets, according to a Nielsen survey: 39
Percentage of Americans who follow vegetarian diets: 6
Percentage who are vegans: 3
Source: Nielsen Analytics.
Percentage of senior-level IT professionals who fully expect their organization will experience a catastrophic data breach in the next three years as a result of unsecured IoT devices, or "internet of things" devices connected to wireless networks, according to the 2018 Global Megatrends in Cybersecurity, sponsored by Raytheon: 82
Percentage who say it could greatly impact shareholder value: 66
Percentage who believe cyber extortion, such as ransomware and data breaches, will increase in frequency and size of payouts: 67
Source: Raytheon Company.
Percentage of Americans who believe exercise programs are the best resource if looking to lose weight, according to a survey from the American Osteopathic Association: 56
Percentage who believe in consulting a nutritionist: 34
Percentage of respondents who rely on diet programs like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig or Whole30: 29
Percentage who believe a physician is best: 28
Source: American Osteopathic Association.
Percentage of Americans who say they do not have more emergency savings than credit card debt, according to a Bankrate.com report: 33
Of these Americans, percentage who say their credit card debt exceeds their emergency fund: 21
Percentage who indicate they have no savings or credit card debt: 12
Source: Bankrate.com.
Idle Thought
"True religion is the life we lead, not the creed we profess." -- Louis Nizer
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)