An interesting question is, just what would you do to save your job? Would you do something semi-unethical if it meant staying out the unemployment line?
If you're one of the dwindling ranks of the still employed, you know you're among a fortunate bunch. In this market, a job is about the only asset that continues to have value. So, if your livelihood were threatened, how far would you go to hang on to it? Would you lie to your colleagues? Would you flirt with your boss?For the sake of brevity, I'll cut to the chase.
Those were some of the questions posed to 1,200 American workers in a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive from Feb. 25-27. Fully 28% of respondents said they would act immorally — including lying or backstabbing — to keep their jobs.
The company wanted to know how the recession has affected people's attitudes toward their career and job prospects, which are, of course, getting only dimmer — since last fall, the number of available jobs has declined while the number of job seekers has remained constant.
Given the state of the economy, perhaps it comes as no big shock that 13% of the survey respondents said they would outright lie or exaggerate to keep their jobs — even though such behavior is forbidden by many companies' ethics policies. About 2% said they would take credit for someone else's work or flirt with the boss to get ahead, and 4% would lie about having common interests with their boss to deepen their bond with a superior.
The youngest workers were the most likely to resort to questionable tactics, the survey found. Nearly 40% of employees from 18 to 34 said they would act dishonestly to save their jobs, a quarter of them would explicitly lie, and 4% would flirt with their boss for an advantage.
Question: Which of the following (pick one only) would you do to keep your job? Lie, Cheat, or Flirt? Why? And no, "None of the Above" is not an acceptable answer. Don't be a punk, choose one.
Lie, Cheat, Flirt. What People Will Do to Keep a Job [Time]
