Technophobia Not Striking The American Work Force

American workers have embraced the increasingly high-tech workplace without the reservations that accompanied earlier periods of rapid technological change.

That’s among the findings of a new survey by the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University and the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut.

“U.S. workers are plugging in, booting up and going online in large numbers, and they aren’t looking back,” the study says.

Here are additional findings from the report, called “Nothing But Net: American Workers and the Information Economy”:

* Eighty-one percent of the 1,005 workers surveyed had used a computer within the past month.

* Sixty-eight percent of workers have access to at least one computer at home, and 23 percent have access to more than one computer.

* Working Americans spend an average of three hours a day at work on a computer.

* One-third of all workers are spending at least one hour a day on the Internet, with 14 percent spending as much as half their workday on the Net.

* Nearly 90 percent of workers say that a computer or some sort of technology will not replace their jobs within the next three years.

Sounding smart is half the battle

A formula called the “Four P’s” can help you sound smart at office meetings and further your career, says Alberto Paz, president of Robert A. Becker Inc., a marketing firm based in New York.

The first P is for purpose — always know the reason why a meeting is being held, so you can plan for it. The second is for participants. If you know who will be at the meeting, you’ll be better able to define your role at the gathering.

Third is the P for prepare — know what is expected of you at the meeting, and be sure to have with you the information you’ll be asked for. And fourth is the P for participate: “You don’t necessarily have to come up with the most brilliant solution to the problem being discussed,” Paz said, but if you don’t take part, your bosses and co-workers will think you have no ideas.

At the office, football scores big

When office chatter turns to sports, chances are football will be the focus of discussion.

That’s the implication from a poll of 1,400 chief financial officers by Accountemps, a temporary staffing service for accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals.

Thirty-six percent of those polled said football is their favorite spectator sport, followed by basketball (15 percent) and baseball (14 percent)

Other choices: golf, 8 percent; hockey, 5 percent; tennis, 5 percent; soccer, 2 percent; figure skating, 2 percent; auto racing, 2 percent; none, 2 percent; other, 7 percent; and don’t know/didn’t answer, 2 percent.

While financial executives enjoy watching football, when it comes to playing sports, their leading choice is golf.