More people talking politics in workplace

Americans are talking about politics. This we knew.

But while the traditional advice is to steer clear of politics at the office, more than half of American workers in a new survey by the American Psychological Association — 54 percent — say they’re talking about it with their co-workers, an uptick since the thick of the campaign in September, when the number was 48 percent.

About half have had postelection conversations with people who agree with them, a third with those who don’t, and 15 percent have gotten into political arguments at work, according to the survey of 1,311 part-time or full-time employees, conducted online by Harris Poll from Feb. 16 to March 18.

The habit feeding this public clamor: Some 35 percent of workers report spending more time on news sites and social media to keep up with the latest political news.

It’s difficult, and probably too early, to rigorously measure the impact these encounters might be having on productivity, but when asked how they were experiencing them, 40 percent of the survey’s respondents listed at least one negative outcome. That included lower productivity (14 percent), worsening work quality (13 percent), stress or tension (26 percent), increased workplace hostility (18 percent), and negative perceptions of co-workers (16 percent).