Survey: Worker Loyalty High Despite Economic Dip

Compiled ByTonya Vinas Although many companies have resorted to layoffs, reduced benefits and site closings to combat the current recession, workers remain loyal to companies, and companies remain loyal to workers. That's what 628 men and women overwhelmingly told F-O-R-T-U-N-E Personnel Consultants (FPC), New York, during the first part of the company's 2001-2002 Workforce Tracking Study. BETA Research, Syosset, N.Y., conducted the telephone survey for FPC in July. All participants had completed at least one college degree and earned at least $50,000 annually. When asked simply, "How loyal do you feel toward your company?" and "How loyal do you believe your company is to its employees?" responses were nearly identical to those FPC tracked with the 2000-2001 survey. This year, 95.4% of respondents said they are "very loyal" or "somewhat loyal" to their companies, and 89% said their companies are likewise loyal to them. In seeking to better define what respondents meant by loyal, FPC asked a series of questions that revealed:

• 87.7% of respondents said they do their best for their companies because it is the right thing to do and gives them personal satisfaction.
• 62.1% of respondents said they would do their best for their companies as long as their companies did their best for them.
• 52.5% of employees said they tie loyalty more to supporting co-workers, teams and customers than to their companies.
• 18.8% of respondents said they would demonstrate loyalty to their companies even if it came at a personal cost to them.
• 11.9% of respondents said there is no such thing as loyalty to an employer today.

And what does loyalty mean in terms of employer attitude and actions? The survey found:

• 52.5% of respondents gave highest marks to the statement: The company supports its employees' training and career development so they're prepared for whatever may happen in the business world.
• 48.6% chose: The company is interested in its employees not just as workers, but also as individuals with personal lives.
• 40.8% favored: The company would lay off employees only if every other cost-cutting method had been exhausted.
• 18.3% chose: The company would never lay off its employees if things got a little slow.
• Finally, 9.7% chose: There is no such thing as a loyal company today.

The survey also found that layoffs affected virtually no respondents. In fact, 92.8% of respondents did not change jobs in the previous year.