5 signs that political climate is impacting worker productivity

Political news, social media use blamed for decline.
President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump stand at the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama, President-elect Donald Trump and Melania Trump stand at the White House in Washington, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Are you feeling less productive at work since the election? You just might be.

A new survey suggests about 30 percent of the nation’s workforce is distracted by the continual onslaught of political news and social media posts.

» RELATED: Productivity slows to 1.3 percent rate in Q4

» RELATED: Dayton startup tackles lack of workplace productivity 

Workers aren’t just reading and talking politics, they are putting a lot of time into processing the political climate, according to the poll by Wakefield Research.

Commissioned by BetterWorks, the survey of 500 U.S. adults employed full time found that:

87 percent of employees are reading political social media posts during the work day.

They are reading an average of 14 political posts per work day, but that number goes up to 18 for millennials, and 21 percent say they read 20 or more. This equates to an average of 2 hours per day reading political social posts.

73 percent have talked with their colleagues about politics with their colleagues since the election, and 37 percent have talked politics with their boss or manager.

49 percent of people have witnessed a political conversation actually turn into an argument at work, and that number goes up to 63 percent for millennials.

29 percent of workers say they are less productive since the election, and that number increases to 35 percent among those who read 10 or more political social media posts per work day.

20 percent of the U.S. workforce (and 34 percent of millennials) say they've participated in a rally or march since the election.

» RELATED: Politics at MyDaytonDailyNews.com

» RELATED: Ohio Politics on Facebook

» RELATED: Ohio Politics Blog

About the Author