Percentage of IT workers who said the ability to acquire new skills is very important when evaluating a job opportunity, according to research from Robert Half Technology: 68

Percentage of respondents who said they are very concerned about keeping their skills current in the next three to five years: 64

Percentage of chief information officers who said their companies do not have training and development programs for IT professionals: 44

Source: Robert Half Technology.

Ranks of Mark Zuckerberg ($17.3 billion), Dustin Moskovitz ($4.2 billion) and Chris Hughes ($950 million), on the list of ultra-wealthy technopreneurs aged 30 and under according to Wealth-X: 1, 2, 3

Combined net worth of Mark Zuckerberg and two of his Facebook co-founders, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes, representing nearly 90 percent of the total fortune in the list: $22.4 billion

Source: Wealth-X.

Percentage of Americans who said they would not want treatments to enable them to live dramatically longer lives, even if new medical treatments could slow the aging process and allow people to live to at least 120 years old, according to a survey by the Pew Research Center: 56

When asked how long they would want to live, percentage of Americans who cited between 79 years and 100 years: 69

Percentage of respondents who think that most other people would choose to live to 120 and beyond: 68

Source: Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.

Percentage of senior managers who said they are uncomfortable being friended by their bosses on Facebook, according to a survey by OfficeTeam: 68

Percentage of respondents who are uncomfortable being friended by the employees they supervise: 62

Percentage of senior managers who are uncomfortable being friended by business contacts: 74

Source: OfficeTeam.

Forty years ago, estimated percentage of jobs in the U.S. that required only a high school diploma or less, according to the California Workforce Association: 75

Today, percentage of jobs that are available to those without some form of postsecondary education: 37

By 2020, estimated shortfall in the number of workers with college degrees in the U.S. economy: 1.5 million to 3 million

Source: California Workforce Association.

Percentage of the parents doing back-to-school shopping this year who are looking for deals to help them save money on back-to-school items, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of Offers.com: 97

Of the parents with school-aged children, percentage who plan to do their back-to-school shopping in August: 47

Percentage of parents doing back-to-school shopping this year who plan to shop in-store: 78

Source: Harris Interactive.

Percentage of Americans who could not give an accurate description when asked what an antioxidant is, according to a survey for MonaVie by Wakefield Research: 92

Percentage who could not recognize one or more sources of foods rich in antioxidants, even though 75 percent of Americans say they actively try to eat foods full of these nutritional molecules: 91

Source: MonaVie.

Percentage of women who depend on the convenience of frozen foods when getting dinner on the table for their families, according to a survey from Edelman: 55

Percentage of respondents who say frozen vegetables are their No. 1 go-to item in the frozen food aisle: 60

Source: Edelman.

Year that Nathan Ames obtained the first patent for a moving stairway -- though it was never built, according to the U.S. Census Bureau: 1859

Year that Jesse Reno built the first practical escalator -- or "inclined elevator," as he called it -- at Coney Island, N.Y.: 1896

Length of the longest escalator in the western hemisphere at the Wheaton, Md., station of the Washington Metro System: 230 feet

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Percentage of consumers who plan to send their children back to school in style with new clothing, according to the results of PriceGrabber's first 2013 Back-to-School shopping survey: 68

Ranks of laptop computers, electronic tablets and computer accessories on the list of items in the electronics category that consumers plan to buy: 1, 2, 3

Source: PriceGrabber.com.

Idle Thought

"How beautiful it is to do nothing, and then rest afterward." -- Spanish proverb

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Number of pounds of food waste disposed of by food manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers combined in 2011, according to a study from the Food Waste Reduction Alliance, Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Food Marketing Institute and the National Restaurant Association: 4.1 billion

In addition, number of pounds of food waste disposed of by consumers per person per month: 20

Source: Food, Nutrition & Science.

Percentage of Americans who believe civility has declined in recent years, according to a poll by Weber Shandwick and public affairs firm Powell Tate partnered with KRC Research on Civility in America: 71

Percentage who expect the decline to continue: 54

On average, number of times per day that Americans encounter incivility: 2

Source: Weber Shandwick.

Despite challenging economic times, percentage of college students who think of volunteering at a nonprofit as a way to develop skills and gain the experience needed to land a future job, according to the 2013 Deloitte Volunteer IMPACT Survey: 46

Percentage of HR executives who say that when evaluating a job candidate, experience gained through skilled volunteering would be taken into account: 81

Source: Deloitte.

Percentage of Americans who have student loan debt, according to a Country Financial Security Index survey: 20

Percentage who say their education loans are affecting decisions, such as getting married, buying a home and/or saving for retirement: 55

Source: Country Financial.

Estimated percentage of business-to-business (B2B) marketers and salespeople who think customer-related-management (CRM) systems don't always capture or provide the information needed to close bigger and higher-margin deals, according to a poll by Corporate Visions Inc.: 80

Percentage of respondents who said their companies required them to use a CRM system to track their activities: 87

Percentage who agreed that they simply "check the boxes," which does not provide them with useful assistance for closing business: 78

Source: Corporate Visions Inc.

Percentage of people who get into a tizzy about packing, according to a survey by Contactspod: 22

Percentage who need to write a checklist: 44

Percentage of respondents who need at least one day to prepare: 20

Percentage who allocate one or two hours packing time: 33

Source: Contactspod by Polaroid.

Percentage of Americans who say the country should mind its own business internationally and let other countries get along as best they can on their own, according to the Pew Research Centre: 46

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Today, percentage of college costs that are paid for by scholarships and grants, up from 25 percent four years ago, according to a national study from Sallie Mae and Ipsos: 30

Average amount of such aid, up from $4,859 in 2009: $6,355

Percentage of college expenses that parents now fund from income and savings, down from 2010's peak funding of 37 percent: 27

Parents' average annual out-of-pocket spending, down from $8,752 in 2010: $5,727

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of smartphone photographers -- those who've taken at least 10 photos in the last three months -- who now use only their smartphone to take photos, according to a study by Suite 48 Analytics: 58

Percentage of respondents who use both their smartphone and their digital camera: 33

Source: Suite 48 Analytics.

Estimated number of children -- one every 30 minutes -- who are treated in emergency rooms across the country for TV-related injuries every year, according to a study released by the American Academy of Pediatrics calling attention to the dangers of TV tip-overs: 17,000

Percentage of children injured by TV tip-overs who are 5 years old or younger: 70

Source: Sanus.

Idle Thought

"Every increased possession loads us with new weariness." -- John Ruskin, author

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)

Estimated amount of money that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first-born child could inherit in royal legacy from the fortunes of the immediate members of the British royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II and Princes Philip, Charles and William, according to Wealth-X: $1 billion

Source: Wealth-X.

Estimated percentage of private-sector workers who qualify for a pension, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (down from more than four in five in the early 1980s): 20

Average pension for which members of Congress qualify through federal pension programs, according to a Bankrate.com analysis: $40,000 plus

Initial annual Social Security benefit for those who earn a middle-class salary most of their life and retire at 65, according to federal government estimates: $18,234

Initial annual Social Security for members of Congress: $30,156

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Percentage of people taking part in a study commissioned by American Express who felt their breathing rate decrease from 16.7 cycles per minute to 10.2 cycles per minute as they relaxed and became happier when thinking about great service: 68

Percentage of participants who felt their heart rate increase from a baseline of approximately 76 beats per minute to 87 beats per minute when thinking about providing great service: 74

Source: American Express.

Percentage of millennials in their 20s with at least some college education who claim to be "totally independent" now as compared to 2011 (23 percent), according to the second nationwide survey by the PNC Financial Services Group Inc.: 17

Percentage of 20- to 29-year-olds with some college who rate themselves behind where they expected to be in terms of financial success (a 26 percent increase since 2011): 58

Percentage of those who do not identify as "totally independent" who are determined to be independent soon: 60

Source: PNC Wealth Management.

Of the 60,000 to 100,000 small businesses negatively affected by Hurricane Sandy, percentage that are estimated to have failed as a direct result of the storm, according to a report from Small Business Majority and the American Sustainable Business Council: 30

Estimated percentage of small to mid-sized businesses that do not reopen following a major disaster: 25

Source: Small Business Majority.

Ranks of Luanda, Angola; Moscow; Tokyo; Ndjamena, Chad; Singapore and Hong Kong on the list the world's costliest locations for expatriates, according to Mercer's latest Cost of Living survey: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Cost of a cup of coffee in Moscow, compared to $1.54 in Managua, Nicaragua: $8.29

Cost of a luxury two-bedroom, unfurnished apartment rental for one month in Moscow, or 14 times as much as one in Karachi, Pakistan: $4,600

Source: Mercer.

Percentage of Americans who say journalists contribute "a lot" to society's well-being, a 10 percentage point drop from four years ago, according to a Pew Research Center report: 28

Number of occupational groups (business executives and lawyers) that received lower marks than journalists: 2

Ranks of members of the military (78 percent) and teachers (72 percent) on the list of professions that contribute "a lot" to society's well-being: 1, 2

Source: Pew Research Center for the People and the Press.

Percentage of workers who indicated they would not have a problem looking for new employment before leaving their current firm, according to a survey by Accountemps: 73

Percentage of respondents between the ages of 18 and 34 who said they are likely to conduct job-search activities at work: 48

Percentage of professionals between the ages of 35 and 44 who expressed a similar willingness: 26

Source: Accountemps.

Of the 2,000 individuals nominated for their snoring by their spouses in a contest for a sleep-positioning system, perentage who were male, according to a survey commissioned by Protect-A-Bed: 55

Percentage of female nominees: 45

Percentage of respondents who indicated that their snorer produced unwanted animal sounds, ranging from a "wounded warthog" to a "cat in heat": 15

Percentage of respondents who noted that the snorer in their life sounds like heavy machinery during sleep: 26

Source: Protect-A-Bed.

Percentage of consumers who plan to spend up to $500 this back-to-school shopping season, compared to 63 percent in 2012 and 48 percent in 2011, according to the results of a PriceGrabber survey: 68

Percentage of respondents who plan to spend between $500 and $1,000: 17

Source: PriceGrabber.com.

Idle Thought

"Seek not to follow in the footsteps of men of old; seek what they sought." -- Matsuo Basho, poet

(Readers can contact John MacIntyre at johnmacintyre(at)bwr.eastlink.ca.)