Dear Victoria,

The price of gas has tripled over the past three years hovering around $3.50 per gallon nationally. Research was conducted earlier this year on how increased gas prices have affected personal finances and by extension behavior at work.

More than 300 employees across a wide range were polled to try to assess the effects that higher gas prices were having on the workplace. As a society, the high price of gas has been casually discussed but no one has really been able to get a handle on how it trickles down to various aspects of life. We also have not been able to determine what role employers could play in possibly helping employees manage the stress that has started to come with spiriling gas prices.

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Findings from the study indicated that most people have had to make drastic changes in the way they spend money. The employees polled, selected from a list of important changes indicating the frequency of the change, for example, 60 percent of the respondents have to rethink the way they spend money, 44 percent are worried about how they are going to make ends meet, 43 percent have cut back on recreational activities, 41 percent have paid off debt more slowly, and 25 percent have gone back to necessities.

More surprising were the indicators of how changes to personal finances affected behavior at work. Changes in personal finances were associated with lower levels of job performance, less enthusiasm, less willingness to help others, fewer positive feelings about the organizations, higher levels of depression, and an increased sensitivity to minor irritants at work.

The stress caused by increased gas prices may be increased by employers' failure to recognize the problem or not knowing what options they may have. The vast majority of employers (92 percent) indicated that their company failed to acknowledge the issue, while other employers felt they should do something but didn't know what. When employees were asked for suggestions, many indicated that their company should offer some financial support. On average, employees felt a subsidy of $30 dollars per week would help reduce much of the stress caused by high gas prices.

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Interestingly, more than one third of employees indicated that they would change jobs with comparable pay and responsibilty if some form of assistance were offered. Certainly, there are other ways a company can help. Creating a Flex Time Policy or creating a Telecommuting Program for employees often helps reduce employee stress, improve morale and retention of employees.

Need help creating such programs, call McCabe Consultants at (818) 704 - 7838 today.

Warm Regards,

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The Team at McCabe Consultants