Skip to main content
CNN International EditionWorld
The Web    CNN.com     
Powered by
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ON TV
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Loud complaints in the workplace

Feeling frustrated with your co-workers? You are not alone.
Feeling frustrated with your co-workers? You are not alone.

Story Tools

QUICKVOTE
What irritates you most about co-workers?
Loud phone calls
Sending e-mails
Yelling at computers
Not making tea
VIEW RESULTS

LONDON, England -- Ever feel like screaming at your computer, or chucking it at an irritating co-worker? Or how about just chucking it in altogether?

Well, you are not alone.

One in three workers get so frustrated with their colleagues' habits, including their shouting at computers, that they often want to quit their jobs, according to a new survey.

A poll of 1,500 British workers by recruitment firm Office Angels found the biggest complaints were about noise levels and technology on the job.

The most annoying habits of co-workers are listening to voicemail messages on speaker phones, swearing at their computers and refusing to pitch in with tea-making duties.

In fact, four out of 10 people said they would not cover for a colleague who had never made a cuppa.

The survey also found that nearly all respondents hated being sent an e-mail by someone sitting only a few feet away.

Another big irritant? Workers who shout into the phone.

More than half of those questioned said they would even forego a week's holiday if it meant they did not have to work alongside people who annoyed them.

So, how do you avoid becoming the focus of negative office gossip?

Offering to make tea could help win over colleagues.
Offering to make tea could help win over colleagues.

Office Angels urges workers to be aware of noise levels when others are trying to concentrate on their job.

They should also offer support to colleagues with heavy workloads. Volunteering to make tea once in a while would not hurt either.

Around six out of 10 people believed that considerate colleagues were better workers and more deserving of promotion than their more boisterous counterparts.

A similar survey in 1999 found the main gripe was people jamming the photocopier and leaving it for someone else to fix.

And workers' intolerance of over-using e-mails is on the increase. Twenty percent of respondents said it rubbed them up the wrong way four years ago compared to 85 percent in 2003.


Story Tools
Click Here to try 4 Free Trial Issues of Time! cover
Top Stories
Iran poll to go to run-off
Top Stories
EU 'crisis' after summit failure
 
 
 
 

CNN US
On CNN TV E-mail Services CNN Mobile CNN AvantGo CNNtext Ad info Preferences
SEARCH
   The Web    CNN.com     
Powered by
© 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP.
A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved.
Terms under which this service is provided to you.
Read our privacy guidelines. Contact us.
external link
All external sites will open in a new browser.
CNN.com does not endorse external sites.
 Premium content icon Denotes premium content.