How we spend 2 weeks a year at work grumbling
FROM computer problems to meetings about meetings, office workers have a lot to grumble about. But the amount we complain about things like pointless emails and noisy people will give us cause to moan some more.
For the average worker wastes two weeks a year complaining, with the top gripes about IT, the air conditioning and difficult colleagues, a study shows.
Researchers also found two thirds are most likely to grumble to workmates and one in 20 will start moaning the minute they step foot in the office.
Another 15 per cent admitted they ‘whinge all day long’.
Seven in ten said they often feel irritable at work. A further quarter said their day is affected by whether or not the boss is going to be in.
Other issues that drive staff mad are commuting, people pulling sickies and colleagues who loudly complain about how busy they are. Common gripes, which generally take up 20 minutes of the working day, also include junk mail, being copied into emails that are of no concern, and someone stealing a favourite mug.
The study, by the Society For The Protection Of Animals Abroad (SPANA), which treats working animals in developing countries, found that getting a phone call when you’re about to leave is the biggest complaint.
Others include what the traffic is like on the way in (35 per cent) and how much work there is to do (43 per cent).
Additionally, staff cannot stand it when someone stinks out the office with food, or turns on the freezing cold air con.
IT issues form a major part of the top-50 list of grumbles, as staff make a fuss about computers that are too slow or crash, printers jamming or breaking down, and poor phone signal.
Geoffrey Dennis, of SPANA, said: ‘There’s no shortage of annoyances in the workplace that raise people’s blood pressure on a daily basis.
‘It can be hard to keep a sense of perspective at times, but we should remember that most of these irritations are trivial compared to the tough lives endured by working animals in developing countries around the world.’