Figuratively Speaking

Percentage of employees currently working at least one day week from home who said they would quit on the spot if they had to go back to the office five days a week, according to a survey by conducted by Stanford, the University of Chicago, and Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico: 6� Percentage who would begin looking for another job: 36

Value (percentage) employees place on working from home in terms of a wage increase: 7

Source: Stanford study

Percentage of gay GenZers (those born between 1998-2010) who are out to their mothers or other female parental figures, according to a study reported by the American Psychological Association: 66� Percentage who were out to their fathers or other male parental figures: 49

Source: American Psychological Association

Percentage of Americans who own at least one pet, with a plurality owning more than one (34%), according to an Ipsos poll: 58� Percentage of pet owners who got their pets prior to the start of the pandemic in March 2020: 80� Percentage of Baby Boomers who are likely to not have any pets at all: 49� Despite the long lengths of time spent at home with pets during quarantine, percentage of pet owners who are not anxious about leaving their pets home alone now that quarantine is lifted: 77

Source: Ipsos

Percentage of companies that were successful during COVID and attributed their success to discussing what needed to be done and taking action, according to VitalSmarts: 46� Percentage who said that remaining agile was paramount: 61� Source: VitalSmarts

Amount families with children in elementary through high school plan to spend on school items this year, according to the National Retail Federation: $848.90� Total back-to-school spending, a record in NRF survey history: $33.9 billion� Source: National Retail Federation

Among consumers who do not plan to buy an electric vehicle, percentage who felt EVs are too expensive, according to research from Parks Associates: 27� Percentage who cited limited number of charging stations available: 24� Source: Parks Associates

Percentage of consumers who say that energy -- not water or time -- is most important to them when it comes to home appliance efficiency, according to a survey by Whirlpool: 84� Percentage of males who are attuned to high-efficiency laundry products: 71� Percentage of females who are attuned: 54� Source: Whirlpool

Percentage of companies adopting or planning to adopt a hybrid model of work now or in the future, according to a survey by FlexJobs: 70� Rank of marketing, accounting and finance, and computer/IT as the career categories that have seen the largest increase in hybrid opportunities: 1, 2, 3� Source: FlexJobs.com

Percentage of teens who feel that they are behind educationally because of the pandemic, with more than a third (37%) of those who feel they are behind permanently, according to a survey conducted for Junior Achievement: 39� In addition to attending school in-person and interacting with other students and teachers, percentage of teens who need "emotional support" from teachers, parents, counselors and other caring adults to help their "mental well-being": 34� Source: Junior Achievement

Rank of Delta Air Lines for best overall experience for flyers, according to a study conducted by The Points Guy and reported by Bankrate.com: 1� Rank of reliability (30%), experience (25%), loyalty (25%) and costs and reach (20%) on the list of the four objective categories to determine the final rankings: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Bankrate.com

Idle Thought

"For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been.'" -- John Greenleaf Whittier, poet (1807-1892)

Percentage by which median home-sale price increased year over year for the period ending July 18, 2021, according to Redfin: 20

Median home-sale price, a record high: $364,160

Percentage of homes for sale that had an offer within the first two weeks of being on the market: 52

Percentage of homes that sold above the list price: 55

Source: Redfin.

Percentage of Americans who take something to help them sleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation: 63

Percentage who take sleeping pills: 23

Percentage who take over-the-counter sleep aids: 22

Percentage who use marijuana, CBD or alcohol: 10

Source: National Sleep Foundation.

Percentage of employees who say that workload is the top cause for them to consider leaving an employer, according to a survey from Eagle Hill Consulting: 52

Percentage who say it's juggling their personal and professional lives: 44

Percentage who attribute burnout to time pressures: 37

Source: Eagle Hill Consulting.

As America recovers from the pandemic and prices for goods and services rise at a rapid pace, percentage of Americans who think the cause is supply-chain issues, according to the Ipsos coronavirus consumer tracker: 27

Percentage who think individual businesses are raising prices to make up for losses during the pandemic: 20

Source: Ipsos.

Percentage of unemployed job-seekers who are frustrated because they are not finding the right jobs to apply for, according to a survey by Flexjobs.com: 48

Percentage who are willing to take a pay cut in order to secure a job: 85

Source: Flexjobs.com.

Percentage of U.S. consumers with investment accounts who say they avoid investing in at least one company (with tobacco, private prison and oil companies topping the list), according to a survey by LendingTree: 51

Percentage who feel guilty investing in certain stocks but do so anyway: 32

Source: LendingTree.

Percentage of Americans who are taking multiple vacations this summer, favoring shorter trips over the traditional weeklong or more vacation, according to a survey by Allianz Partners: 34

Percentage of Americans who are eager to travel and will take the first opportunity to take a vacation: 44

Average trip length in days: 4

Source: Allianz Global Assistance USA.

Percentage of Americans who say they are in financial recovery mode as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to findings from Northwestern Mutual: 58

Among the 58% of Americans who say they are in financial recovery mode, percentage who are planning month to month (with only 14% actively planning more than five years out): 24

Percentage who say they are in mid-stage recovery -- indicating they have begun making up ground on financial losses, but are not yet back to their pre-pandemic financial level: 47

Source: Northwestern Mutual.

Percentage of hiring managers who anticipate adding new, permanent positions in the second half of 2021, according to a survey by Robert Half: 48

Percentage who plan to fill vacated positions or bring back furloughed employees: 48

Among the 28 U.S. cities in the survey, ranks of San Diego, Dallas, Atlanta and Los Angeles as the cities most likely to have employers who expect to staff up: 1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Robert Half.

Pre-pandemic, percentage of higher-education institutions that made considerable use of online homework or courseware systems, according to the Digital Learning Pulse Survey by Cengage: 22

Today, percentage of faculty who report considerable use of them, with 74% expecting use to "remain the same" or "increase" post-pandemic: 58

Source: Cengage.

Idle Thought

"The real index of civilization is when people are kinder than they need to be" -- Louis de Bernieres, novelist (b. 1954)

Percentage of Americans who had a pension prior to Congress passing the Revenue Act in 1978, which created 401(k) plans, according to the Employee Benefits Research Center: 33

Percentage who have a pension today: less than 2

Source: EBRI.

Percentage of Americans who drink caffeinated beverages from 3 p.m. on, according to the National Sleep Foundation: 42

Percentage who say they don't get any exercise in a given week: 18

Source: National Sleep Foundation.

Percentage of high-income earners who say they feel not at all supported at work when it comes to caregiving duties for family members, according to the Longevity Project: 5

Percentage of those earning less than $50,000 who feel not at all supported: 19

Source: Longevity Project.

Percentage of post-COVID home shoppers who said they would have extended family living with them full time, according to a survey by Realtor.com: 20

Percentage who said their new home would need to accommodate extended family staying with them part time or visiting: 30

Percentage who indicated a short commute time was a priority: 9

Percentage who were looking for smaller square footage: 4

Source: Realtor.com.

Percentage of Americans who agreed that the Summer Olympics in Tokyo should go ahead, even if the COVID-19 pandemic wasn't over yet, according to research by Ipsos: 52

Percentage of people globally who agreed the games should go ahead: 43

Percentage of the people in Japan, the host nation, who said the Olympics should go ahead: 22

Source: Ipsos Global.

Percentage of businesses that say they're experiencing higher supply costs than they had prior to COVID, according to a survey by Alignable: 80

Percentage that said costs have increased more than 25%: 27

Source: Alignable.

Number of hours Americans spend online annually just looking for deals, according to a survey by Slickdeals: 88

Percentage who do it just for fun: 68

Percentage who tell total strangers how much money they saved when complimented on their outfit that they bought on sale: 69

Source: Slickdeals.

Percentage of U.S. workers who believe that "employee experience" directly impacts their ability to serve customers, according to a survey from Eagle Hill Consulting: 64

Percentage who say that their organization places a great deal of importance on employee experience and satisfaction: 38

Percentage who agree that their feelings about their day-to-day work experience -- negative or positive -- impacts their productivity: 70

Source: Eagle Hill Consulting.

Among the 38% of Americans who worked from home at some point since the pandemic, ranks of fewer opportunities to network and interact with co-workers, lower productivity due to too many distractions, and limited opportunities for promotions and salary increases on the list of the most common negatives, according to a study from Bankrate.com : 1, 2, 3

Percentage of baby boomers who are much more likely to miss networking/interacting with co-workers: 54

Percentage of Gen Zers who say the same: 34

Source: Bankrate.com.

Percentage of Americans not already receiving Social Security benefits who say they know exactly how to optimize their Social Security benefit, according to a poll conducted for the Nationwide Retirement Institute: 54

Percentage who know all the factors that determine the maximum benefit someone can receive: 6

Percentage who don't know the eligible age to receive full benefits: 39

Source: Nationwide.

Idle Thought

"It is perhaps a more fortunate destiny to have a taste for collecting shells than to be born a millionaire." -- Robert Louis Stevenson, novelist, essayist and poet (1850-1894)