A recent survey finds that 30% of employers and nearly 1 in 5 employees (17%) have argued with a co-worker over a particular candidate this election season. But how about NAPA-Net readers?
Much as the political environment itself, this week’s responses were pretty split; 42% had not discussed politics with co-workers this year, but the remaining 58% had. Among those, about 1 in 10 said they had done so more than once, and another 1 in 12 had done so with more than one person. One reader explained, “I try to avoid discussions, but overhear some. Most people are not happy with either choice, so it's pointless.”
That comment notwithstanding, most of this week’s respondents said that the discussions had been either “civil and respectful” (about 71%) or “energetic, but civilized” (29%). Most of those conversations (87%) had been about a candidate, though some (13%) had been about both a candidate and a particular position.
As for the regularity with which such things are discussed in their workplace, roughly 17% said they were discussed regularly, 8% said they weren’t, and about 12% weren’t sure. The remaining respondents said that while politics weren’t discussed “regularly,” they were discussed with some frequency.
Only about 1 in 10 thought that such discussions were good, with 46% saying they were bad. The remaining 44% thought they had no real impact.
That Careerbuilder survey of more than 3,200 workers and more than 1,900 managers across private-sector industries also found that management was more likely than employees to argue about candidates, with employers in information technology (47%) taking the lead, followed by those in manufacturing (37%), though financial services wasn’t far behind (30%).
Readers/respondents had a number of interesting comments about the topic; here’s a sampling:
- “I, as a rule, don't discuss politics (or religion) at work, but I listen to opinions of my co-workers. Most of the opinions are either (1) this election is a joke; or (2) Trump is a bad, bad man.”
- “You should avoid mixing business with politics and religion.”
- “For the most part, I'd rather not know... if their viewpoint isn't the same as mine, I'll forever be judging that person as one of “them’."
- “Most of our political discussions were during the primary. Now that it has been narrowed to two, there isn't much to discuss other than Hillary's promises to destroy the Constitution and anyone who doesn't think the same way she does.”
- “It's your own opinion. No one else's business.”
- “Most of my co-workers are on the opposite side of the political spectrum from me. I have learned to keep my views to myself.”
- “I think politics should be discussed. It helps me see what other people are thinking and not just my own point of view. It's especially helpful to have these discussions with people I consider to be my peers. Of course on the other hand, how can they think that??? :) “
- “I wish we had some way of 'benchmarking' politicians other than the current system we have...the current system is like a party game or beauty pageant; not enough voters actually look beneath the hood for substance...it is all about ill-informed, self-serving emotion, instead of what is for the good of our country and its people.”
Thanks to everyone who participated in our weekly NAPA-Net reader poll!
Got a burning question you’d like to run past our readership? Curious as to what your fellow NAPA-Net readers are thinking? Post your question in the comments section below, or email it to me at [email protected].
