Politics and productivity don’t mix well these days.
After several studies suggested American workers were distracted by the stream of tweets and news updates coming from the White House, a new report from the U.S. Labor Department has confirmed the phenomenon.
The Department of Labor released the first productivity stats since the election earlier this month. Instead of the growth economists might’ve been expecting, the numbers showed a drop of .6 percent. As Quartz reports, these stats fluctuate from quarter but human resources and psychologists believe the dip is due to politics—and studies, support that.
A whopping 87 percent of employees said they checked social media for political news throughout the work day, according to a survey from goal-tracking software company BetterWorks. Of the 500 people polled, a third of American workers felt they less productive after the election. That number increases by six percent if they check ten or more posts a day.
The trend existed before the election, too. A September 2016 report from the American Association found that one in four American employees was negatively affected when talking about politics in the workplace, which led to less productivity and more stress.
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