Most Americans workers (55%) say work is “unpleasant and potentially hazardous,” according to a study conducted by the Rand Corp., Harvard medical School and UCLA, and one in five say they face a hostile work environment.
Texas business consultant Jerry Acuff sees changing demographics as playing a role. “If you throw into the mix the fact that 40% of millennials make up the work force, and maybe because they don’t have great social skills because they spent so much time on technology that they don’t know the art of how you make a friend without making an enemy,” he tells KTRH News. Acuff advises setting your sights on future allies as soon as you walk into the job. “When you go to work for a company you need to map out who are the people you want a relationship with, and you want a relationship with not only your supervisor but your supervisor’s supervisor.”
The study finds:
Almost three in four workers say they spend at least a fourth of their workday in “intense and repetitive physical” labor.
Nearly 80% don’t have an option of telecommuting.
Less than 40% say they a chance to move up in their current job, and the older they are, the less optimistic they are of advancement.