Panic, worry, anxiety, fear, unreadiness - and more online game-playing at the office to relieve the stress: Such is the fallout of the economic downturn, a variety of new surveys show.
About 16 per cent of U.S. employees describe their workplace atmosphere as "panicky" and 39 per cent say they're "somewhat worried" about the economy, a new poll of 1,250 respondents by employee assistance provider ComPsych Corp. finds.
One in five U.S. workers says the downturn has had a negative effect on their mental health, while a third say their stress level on the job has risen, according to a survey of 1,068 employed adults by staffing company Adecco USA.
If layoff fears are on your mind, you're not alone: Employees spend an average of 168.8 minutes - close to three hours - a day worrying about personal job concerns, such as layoffs, a survey of 1,000 U.S. respondents commissioned by workplace consulting firm Lynn Taylor Consulting finds.
Are people ready for the job hunt? Not quite. Seventy-eight per cent of about 250 human resource professionals say that at least half of the résumés they receive are from unqualified candidates. And half of more than 8,000 workers polled say their résumés are not up to date, according to a survey from online job site CareerBuilder.com.
Nearly one in four of the HR pros say they receive an average of 75 résumés for each open position, and 42 per cent receive more than 50. They don't spend much time on them: Thirty-eight per cent say they devote just one to two minutes to reviewing a new application, while 17 per cent spend less than a minute.
The job hunt is expected to be a long haul: 83 per cent of 1,000 unemployed executives predict it will take more than four months for those in their predicament to find their next opportunity, and 43 per cent figure it will take seven months or longer. Compare that to the just 29 per cent who say they'd needed more than three months to find their next job berth in the past, according to the executives from more than 85 countries canvassed in executive recruiting firm Korn/Ferry's international executive quiz.
As for what they miss about working, 74 per cent say the intellectual challenges, 21 per cent miss colleagues, 4 per cent the travel and 1 per cent the perks.
While 55 per cent of the executives are spending most of their time on their job search, 23 per cent are putting it toward professional development, 12 per cent to time with family and friends, 7 per cent to vacationing or on hobbies, and 3 per cent are relaxing.
Meanwhile, back at the office, workers are relieving their stress through more online game playing: 52 per cent of more than 1,400 workers say they are playing more online games at work than ever before, finds a survey from game site Candystand.com. For 18 per cent, it's all about relieving stress.
But watch out: 46 per cent said they'd been caught by their boss playing instead of working. Then again, 58 per cent said it was their boss who was caught red-handed.