Percentage of U.S. workers who say the ability to work from anywhere at any time allows them to maintain a healthy work-life balance, according to the Randstad Workmonitor survey: 82
Percentage who still prefer to work in the office: 62
Percentage of workers who say they like the option of occasionally working from home or another location, but aren't able to do so: 66
Source: Randstad-USA.
Percentage of workers who said clothing choices affect a person's chances of earning a promotion, according to a survey by OfficeTeam: 86
Percentage of managers who agree: 80
Average time that professionals spend per day choosing their office attire: 11 minutes
Time taken by men in choosing their office attire, compared to nine minutes by women: 12 minutes
Time spent by employees ages 18 to 34, compared to those ages 35 to 54 (10 minutes) and 55 and older (seven minutes): 13 minutes
Source: OfficeTeam.
Total student loan debt in the United States, according to WalletHub: $1.38 trillion
Percentage of students who say credit card debt worries them more than student loan debt: 42
Percentage of college students who say their school is not doing enough to educate them about personal finance: 63
Source: WalletHub.
Average annual salary that 2018 college grads in the United States will make, according to a study by Korn Ferry: $50,390
Ranks of software developer ($67,236), engineer ($64,066), scientist/researcher ($60,177) and registered nurse ($54,454) on the list average starting salaries by career: 1, 2, 3, 4
Source: Korn Ferry International.
In 2017, percentage of American workers who had no paid vacation time whatsoever, according to a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics: 27
After five years of service, number of paid vacation days the typical American worker received, compared to 25 legally required days in Scandinavian countries or the 30 days mandated in France: 15 to 19
Percentage who do not take all their vacation days for fear of looking replaceable, according to DataTrek Research: 61
Source: DataTrek Research/BLS.
Percentage of teachers who agree that public school teachers have a right to strike, according to a survey by Ipsos partnered with NPR: 82
In a concurrent survey, percentage of Americans who agree that public school teachers have a right to strike: 75
Percentage who believe public school teachers are paid fairly: 25
Over the course of their career, percentage of teachers who report having worked a second job to make ends meet: 59
Percentage who have run up debt to do the same: 46
Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.
Percentage of workers who say they believe working 9 to 5 is an antiquated practice, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 63
Percentage who think start and end times should be flexible: 88
Source: CareerBuilder.com.
Percentage of social media users who admit they use social media while on family vacations the same or more than usual, according to the Alamo Rent a Car survey: 37
Percentage who admit they could never unplug from social media during a family vacation: 16
Percentage who said they have seen the need to constantly check posts, texts and newsfeeds ruin a family vacation: 23
Percentage of people who say they wish they could take a vacation from social media: 43
Source: Alamo Rent A Car.
Ranks of exclusive (VIP) tour, private car and driver, custom culinary experiences, private villas or homes, and private beach or island on the 2018 list of top luxury experiences, according to findings from the annual travel trends survey conducted by Travel Leaders Group: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Source: Travel Leaders.
Percentage of retirees who have increased their non-housing assets in the first 18 years following retirement, according to research by the Employee Benefit Research Institute: 33
During the first 18 years of retirement, average percentage decrease in the non-housing assets of pensioners: 4
Average percentage decrease for non-pensioners: 34
Source: EBRI.
Idle Thought
"You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." -- Anne Lamott, writer
(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre@bwr.eastlink.ca.)