Opinion: Unneeded communications overwhelm executives

Percentage of U.S. workers who say their greatest concern is being able to retire comfortably, according to a survey by Ajilon Professional Staffing: 37

Percentage who say it is the rising cost of health care: 24

Percentage who say it is a stagnant paycheck: 12

Percentage who say it is being laid off because business is slow: 9

Morning people

Percentage of Americans who describe themselves as “a morning person,” according to a survey by Opinion Research Corp.: 40

Percentage who describe themselves as “a day person”: 26

Percentage who describe themselves as “a night person”: 32

Overwhelmed

Percentage of executives at large companies around the world who say their communications – voicemail, e-mail and meetings – are nearly or completely unmanageable, according to a survey by McKinsey & Co.: 25

Percentage who say they spend a half to a full day per week on communications that are not valuable: 40

Shrinking incomes

Percentage of respondents who gave income reduction as the primary reason they found it necessary to get help with their financial problems, according to a Cambridge Consumer Index survey: 27.9

Percentage who said they sought help because they were frustrated with high bank rates and fees: 23.9

Percentage who said they wanted to improve their ability to achieve future financial goals like buying a house or saving for retirement: 15

Percentage who said they got into too much debt by overspending: 8

CEO accountability

Rank of underperformance as the reason CEOs were fired in 2004, according to a Booz Allen Hamilton Survey: 1

Average tenure of departing CEOs in the U.S. in 2004: 8.8 years

Average tenure in 2002: 10.3 years

Online shoppers

Percentage of U.S. Internet users who say lower prices are among the reasons they purchase items online, according to data from Goldman Sachs, Harris Interactive and Nielsen/NetRatings: 36

Percentage who say it also is because there is a wider selection of products available online: 34

Percentage who say it also is because they prefer to avoid crowds: 33

Percentage who say it also is easier to compare products and prices online: 28

Driving to work

Percentage of American adults who commute to work by car, according to a survey by Directions Research Inc.: 81

Percentage who commute by bus: 3

Percentage who commute by train: 3

Small business satisfaction

Percentage of U.S small-business owners that are satisfied with their ability to achieve a positive work-life balance, according to a Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index survey: 67

Percentage who feel they are able to make the time available outside work to do the things that are most important to them: 65

Think small

Percentage of chief financial officers that said they would advise entry-level accounting professionals to begin their careers at small to mid-sized companies, according to a survey developed by Accountemps: 46

Percentage that recommended they start with small to mid-sized accounting firms: 30

Percentage that recommended they start with a large public accounting firm: 10

Percentage that recommended they start with a large corporation: 9

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.