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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper The Spokesman-Review
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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THE WORKPLACE

Four in five American workers are worried about something when it comes to their job, with high gas prices being the top concern, the latest Adecco USA Workplace Insights survey found.

Fuel costs beat out a stagnant paycheck and work-life balance, which tied for the top workplace concern in the 2007 survey.

Just one in four workers claim to be saving for unemployment, and 58 percent do not intend to start putting money aside for potential job loss.

Here’s the breakdown on what people listed as their top concern, as opposed to last year:

High gas prices: 25 percent (12 percent in 2007)

Stagnant paycheck: 13 percent (16 percent)

Work-life balance: 12 percent (16 percent)

Rising cost of health care: 9 percent (12 percent)

Job market: 7 percent (4 percent)

Opportunities for advancement: 6 percent (12 percent)

Outsourcing of jobs: 4 percent (3 percent)

Not appreciated? While three-quarters of Americans continue to feel appreciated at work, the number dropped significantly in the past year. In the 2007 survey, 91 percent of those polled felt they were very or somewhat appreciated at the office.

Savings vary: Although most Americans aren’t saving or planning to save for periods of unemployment, the number varies depending on age and location. Gen Y workers are less likely to be saving (39 percent) versus Gen X (44 percent) and the Silent Generation (46 percent). Americans in the South are the biggest savers (47 percent) compared to the Northeast (36 percent) and West (37 percent).

NO REST FOR WEARY: Can’t sleep? Welcome to the 3 a.m. club.

A survey in the September issue of Consumer Reports found that 44 percent of U.S. adults are what the magazine calls “problem sleepers.” That means that for at least eight nights a month, they toss and turn before drifting off, wake up in the middle of the night or get up before planned.

Almost one-fifth of those surveyed use drugs to counteract sleeplessness at least once a week, and 24 percent of those said they had sleep-medication dependency problems. Sleeping pills are normally not recommended for regular use for more than two weeks, but the magazine found that 38 percent of those who had taken a sleep aid in the past month said they had been doing so for more than two years.