Opinion: Managing former peers makes promotion scary

Percentage who said it was managing friends and/or former peers: 36

Percentage who said it was feeling unprepared for the responsibility: 25

Saving grace

Percentage of people who consider themselves disciplined savers, according to a KeyCorp survey: 55

Percentage who admit to saving less than 5 percent of their income: 80

Percentage who don't save at all: 24

Percentage who said cable/satellite is essential to their lifestyle: 49

Percentage who said a cell phone is essential to their lifestyle: 46

Percentage who said high-speed Internet access is essential to their lifestyle: 44

Daydream believers

Percentage of meeting time that professionals believe is wasted, according to a study done by MCI: 50

Percentage of professionals who admit to daydreaming in meetings: 91

Percentage who have brought other work to meetings: 73

Percentage who have fallen asleep: 40

Rules of engagement

Percentage of highly engaged employees who believe they can positively impact the quality of their company's products, according to a survey by Towers Perrin HR Services: 84

Percentage of disengaged employees who believe this: 31

Percentage of highly engaged employees who believe they can positively affect customer service: 72

Percentage of disengaged employees who believe this: 27

Junior achievers

Percentage of teens who say they hope to become entrepreneurs, according to a Junior Achievement poll: 69

Of those who said they'd like to start their own business, percentage who said they'd be most interested in starting “professional services,” focuses on accounting, law or insurance: 27

Percentage who said they'd be most interested in starting a “retail business”: 26

No credit

Percentage of U.S. consumers who never obtain a credit report to review all recent activity that has been conducted using their identity, according to data from Javelin Strategy & Research: 36

Percentage who obtain a credit report less than once a year: 27

Percentage who obtain a credit report yearly: 24

Insecurity calling?

Percentage of information technology directors who still believe that VoIP networks are inherently insecure, according to research commissioned by Viatel: 43

Percentage of directors in the financial services and manufacturing sectors who still believe that VoIP networks are inherently insecure: 56

Percentage of companies that are adopting the technology despite the perceived security issues: 67

John MacIntyre is an author and former city magazine editor. His Figuratively Speaking column, launched in 1989, is published in more than 40 newspapers and magazines.