Despite what the talking heads on cable say, anyone with half a brain knows this economy is bad and getting worse. 600,000 jobs are being shed a month. Peoples’ livelihoods are hanging in the balance. People are doing everything they can to avoid that pink slip.
An interesting question is, just what would you do to save your job? Would you do something semi-unethical if it meant staying out the unemployment line?
If you’re one of the dwindling ranks of the still employed, you know you’re among a fortunate bunch. In this market, a job is about the only asset that continues to have value. So, if your livelihood were threatened, how far would you go to hang on to it? Would you lie to your colleagues? Would you flirt with your boss?
Those were some of the questions posed to 1,200 American workers in a new survey conducted by Harris Interactive from Feb. 25-27. Fully 28% of respondents said they would act immorally — including lying or backstabbing — to keep their jobs.
The company wanted to know how the recession has affected people’s attitudes toward their career and job prospects, which are, of course, getting only dimmer — since last fall, the number of available jobs has declined while the number of job seekers has remained constant.
Given the state of the economy, perhaps it comes as no big shock that 13% of the survey respondents said they would outright lie or exaggerate to keep their jobs — even though such behavior is forbidden by many companies’ ethics policies. About 2% said they would take credit for someone else’s work or flirt with the boss to get ahead, and 4% would lie about having common interests with their boss to deepen their bond with a superior.
The youngest workers were the most likely to resort to questionable tactics, the survey found. Nearly 40% of employees from 18 to 34 said they would act dishonestly to save their jobs, a quarter of them would explicitly lie, and 4% would flirt with their boss for an advantage.
For the sake of brevity, I’ll cut to the chase.
Question: Which of the following (pick one only) would you do to keep your job? Lie, Cheat, or Flirt? Why? And no, “None of the Above” is not an acceptable answer. Don’t be a punk, choose one.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I’d probably lie or exaggerate to keep my job I suppose. But I don’t know what I’d be lying about. The boss’s wife’s cooking. Making him think I like him. Complimenting him and kissing booty I guess. LOL
I don’t get why we can’t do something other than lie, cheat, or flirt. Isn’t that part of the problem that we believe that we must do one of those instead of acting ethically?
Cheating wouldnt count…I’ve been here since 2001 and in that time only the receptionist hasn’t changed. My Director is a man who has kids my age…so flirting is out. I guess lying is the only option.
@Greg I think for the sake of this post, he’s just asking in the sense that acting ethically isn’t an option. Just for the sake of this post.
I might lie, depending on what it’s about. I’d definitely exagerate if needed. I wouldn’t flirt, that could just lead to me getting myself into a situation I can’t get out of without feeling violated & having to quit. I don’t think I’d cheat, either. I’m not at a job where that would even come into play, but if I were in advertising or something, I don’t think I could steal my co-worker’s marketing plan/idea & claim it as my own. No good can come out of something like that.
I’d flirt…I do that naturally. As long as the flirting doesnt lead to “sleeping with the boss,” I definitely see it as the lesser evil. Everyone likes a compliment now and then