oddities

Figuratively Speaking for March 23, 2018

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | March 23rd, 2018

Percentage of workers who dated at work who ended up getting married, according to a CareerBuilder survey: 31

Percentage of workers who had an affair with a colleague where one person involved was married at the time: 24

Percentage of workers who have left a job because a romantic relationship with someone at work went sour: 6

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of full-time employees in the U.S. who do not receive benefits, such as health insurance, a retirement savings plan or paid vacation, from their employers, according to a survey by Clutch: 25

Ranks of health insurance, paid vacation time, overtime pay and retirement funding on the list of the most valuable benefits to employees: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Clutch.

Percentage of older baby boomers (ages 65 to 75) who are not looking to leave all of their money behind and just want to live comfortably in retirement, according a PNC survey: 86

Source: PNC Financial Services Group.

Of the companies surveyed this year, percentage that were pure-play online retailers, according to a study by the National Retail Federation and Forrester: 32

Percentage that were multichannel retailers, including traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers that also sell online: 57

Percentage of store-based retailers who expect a net increase in the number of bricks-and-mortar stores they operate by the end of 2018 compared with 2017: 43

Percentage who expect a net reduction: 16

Percentage of retailers who are proactively working on their real estate assets by opening some type of pop-up store: 24

Source: NRF.

Percentage of millennial bosses who said online messaging is their most common way to communicate with their direct reports, according to a new Korn Ferry survey: 55

Percentage who communicate by email: 28

Percentage who said their favored way to communicate is in person: 14

Percentage who do it by phone: 3

Source: Korn Ferry International.

Number of U.S. adults who have had a negative experience lending a personal credit card to someone they know, according to a new CreditCards.com study: 36 million

Ranks of overspending, not getting paid back and not getting the card back (stating their card either wasn't returned or was lost or stolen): 1, 2, 3

Percentage of current or former credit card holders who admit to letting someone else use their personal card: 49

Source: CreditCards.com.

Ranks of "being present for my kids" and "being a good listener and giving good advice" on the list of qualities that make a good parent, according to research by Farm Rich: 1, 2

Source: Farm Rich.

Percentage of workers surveyed by OfficeTeam who said their companies have a scent-free policy: 19

When asked how they dealt with smells in the office, percentage of workers who let it go and suffered in silence: 46

Percentage who confronted the person: 17

Percentage who asked their manager or HR to intervene: 15

Source: OfficeTeam.

Percentage of investors who moved money out of stock-related accounts during the January-February market correction as a direct response to the decline, according to a new Bankrate.com report: 6

Percentage who contributed more to stock investments: 15

Source: Bankrate.com.

An American's odds of being intentionally assaulted with a firearm, according to the National Safety Council's compilation of unintentional death and injury data for 98 years: 1 in 285

Odds of being accidentally shot: 1 in 8,305

Source: National Safety Council.

Idle Thought

"The first symptom of love in a young man is timidity; in a girl, boldness." -- Victor Hugo

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

oddities

Figuratively Speaking for March 16, 2018

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | March 16th, 2018

Percentage of workers who do not think everyone has an equal shot of living the American Dream, according to a survey by CareerBuilder: 60

When asked what are the top factors that are keeping people from achieving the American Dream, ranks of the cost of education, cycles of poverty, wage gaps, inequality (among women, minorities, etc.) and access to education: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: CareerBuilder.com.

Percentage of millennial-owned businesses that have a mobile app, compared to 42 percent of small businesses owned by Generation X and 13 percent owned by baby boomers, according to a survey by Clutch: 55

Percentage of small businesses that build mobile apps to attract new customers: 28

Percentage that do it to gain a competitive advantage: 18

Percentage that do it to increase sales: 17

Source: Clutch.

Estimated corporate losses due to unproductive workers during March Madness, according to WalletHub: $4 billion

Percentage of HR professionals who say they don't have policies addressing office pools: 81

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of American single women who think their dates earn "bonus points" if they offer to pay for the date, according to a survey by personalized dating service It's Just Lunch: 58

Percentage who insist on picking up the bill themselves: 1

Percentage who intend to pay for the next date: 8

Source: It's Just Lunch/American Way.

In the United States, odds of dying from any unintentional cause -- up from 1 in 30 in 2004, according to National Safety Council: 1 in 25

Every 10 minutes, number of people who are killed: 3

Number who are seriously injured: 847

Source: National Safety Council.

Of the 65 percent of taxpayers expecting a refund, percentage who say they will put it into savings, according to survey released today by the National Retail Federation and Prosper Insights and Analytics: 49

Percentage who will pay down debt: 35

Percentage who will spend this year's refunds on everyday expenses: 22

Percentage who will use the money for a vacation: 12

Source: NRF.

Percentage of CFOs who said it was challenging for their company to find skilled candidates for professional-level positions today, according to a Robert Half survey: 65

To combat this problem, percentage of executives who are now considering entry-level applicants for roles that historically weren't open to them: 51

Source: Robert Half.

On average, percentage of their salary that adults direct toward their retirement savings, according to a survey conducted by McLaughlin and Associates on behalf of PenFed: 7.6

When asked what they would do if given $5,000, percentage of respondents said they would put it toward retirement: 23

Percentage who would put the money in savings: 63

Source: McLaughlin and Associates.

Percentage of millennials (ages 22 to 35) who would rather work in an active workspace -- one which supports movement, collaboration and social interactions -- than in a traditional "cube," according to a study conducted by VARIDESK: 75

Of the respondents who work in an active workspace, percentage who are satisfied with the space their employer provides: 87

Percentage of respondents without an active workspace who are satisfied with their space: 57

Of those who still work from a traditional cubicle, percentage who said they would be less likely to look for a new job if their employer invested in an active workspace: 57

Source: VARIDESK.

Percentage of American women who say Social Security will be their primary source of retirement income, according to a survey from the Nationwide Retirement Institute of adults ages 50 or older who are retired or plan to retire in the next 10 years: 62

Percentage of women who say life is, or is expected to be, better in retirement than before retirement (down from 31 percent last year): 25

Percentage who say that life in retirement is, or is expected to be, worse: 26

Source: Nationwide.

Idle Thought

"It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." -- Charles Darwin

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

oddities

Figuratively Speaking for March 09, 2018

Figuratively Speaking by by John MacIntyre
by John MacIntyre
Figuratively Speaking | March 9th, 2018

Percentage of full-time U.S. employees who say that flexible hours are the most important perk they receive, according to a survey by Clutch: 41

Percentage who say it's the perk that matters most to their job satisfaction: 54

Ranks of "flexible hours," "professional development," "fitness/health perks," "food/snacks" and "working from home" on the list of the most common employee perks: 2, 3, 4, 5

Source: Clutch.

Percentage of smartphone users who agree with the statement "I love my phone," according to a survey conducted in the United States, Brazil, France and India by Ipsos on behalf of Motorola: 54

Percentage of Gen Zers and millennials who profess to love their phones, compared to 49 percent of Gen Xers and 37 percent of baby boomers: 63

When facing the prospect of separation from one's device, percentage of users who agree that "it would be very difficult emotionally to give up my smartphone": 43

Percentage who said that if their device were a person in their life, it would most resemble a "best friend": 37

Source: Ipsos Public Affairs.

Percentage of "thrifters" (people who shop secondhand 12 times or more per year) who stated they've found their match and are in a marriage or committed relationship, according to Swap.com: 69

Percentage who have dated fewer than five partners before finding their match: 48

Percentage who dated a year or less before committing: 57

Percentage of all Americans who say the same: 26

Source: Swap.com.

Percentage of professionals who would prefer recognition over extra compensation, according to a Korn Ferry survey: 46

Percentage who said they would prefer a raise with no promotion: 54

Source: Korn/Ferry International.

Amount Citigroup is preparing to issue in refunds after the bank discovered it had overcharged nearly 2 million credit card accounts on their annual interest rates, according to research by CreditCards.com: $330 million

Number of accounts affected: 1.75 million

Average refund amount: $190

Source: Bankrate.com.

Estimated number of Irish-Americans and fellow partiers worldwide who will raise pints of Guinness and forkfuls of corned beef and cabbage in the name of Ireland's primary patron saint, according to WalletHub: 33 million

Percentage of Americans who plan to celebrate St. Patrick's Day: 56

Percentage of celebrators who plan to wear the green: 83

Number of pints of Guinness that will be consumed worldwide: 13 million

Source: WalletHub.

Percentage of parents who claim they wouldn't recognize all of their children's teachers if they saw them in the grocery store, according to findings from a ClassDojo's study: 19

Percentage of respondents who feel their child performs better in school when they're more involved in their child's day-to-day school life: 95

Percentage of parents who feel they perform better at work when their children are excelling in school: 52

Percentage who see an improvement in their relationships with family and friends: 49

Percentage who feel closer to their child: 53

Source: Wyzant.

Percentage of advertising and marketing executives who said the number of counteroffers extended by their company to current employees weighing another job offer has increased in the last six months, according to a survey by the Creative Group: 14

Percentage of executives who said the main reason to issue a counteroffer is to avoid losing an employee with hard-to-find skills: 37

Source: The Creative Group.

Rank of Christmas on the list of the largest gift card-giving occasions, accounting for 33 percent of gift card spending on others, according to Packaged Facts: 1

Percentage of gift card spending on others that falls outside of holidays, with giving tied to "doing something nice," "rewarding someone" and "to say thank you": 26

Source: Packaged Facts.

Estimated number of consumers whose personal information was exposed in the massive 2017 Equifax data breach, according to a CreditCards.com report: 145 million-plus

Percentage of those surveyed who said that having their personal data stolen would be worse than having their cellphone stolen: 74

Source: CreditCards.com.

Idle Thought

"To practice five things under all circumstances constitutes perfect virtue; these five are gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness and kindness." -- Confucius

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

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