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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
Dropping an F-bomb at the office could cost you much more than 50 cents in the company swear jar, according to a new study released this week.
Sixty-four percent of 2,298 hiring managers and human resources professionals surveyed said they typically have a lower opinion of employees who swear at the office, and 57% said they’d be more likely to promote employees who keep their language clean, according to a study by New York-based Harris Interactive Inc. A majority of employers surveyed also said swearing causes them to question an employee’s professionalism, control, maturity and intelligence.
Nevertheless, 51% of employees questioned in the same study revealed that they have been known to curse around the office, and more than half of them admitted they swear in front of their supervisors. For good measure, about one-quarter of the employers surveyed admitted swearing around their co-workers.
Demographically, office potty mouths are a varied bunch. According to the study, men (54%) are only slightly more likely to curse at work than women (47%). Employees in the prime of their careers (ages 35-44) were the most frequent offenders, while workers just starting out in the job market (ages 18-24) and nearing retirement (age 55 and older) were the least likely groups to swear on the job.
Where in the United States an employee works also seems to have at least some bearing on their tendency to swear on the job, though the study’s specific findings to that point might surprise some. According to the survey, workers in Washington, Denver and Chicago were 12% to 18% more likely to curse at work than employees in New York and Philadelphia.