Benefits December 31, 2008

A Few of Your Favorite Things?

December 31, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - If you're inclined to curl up with a good book, you've got a lot of company, according to a new survey of human resource (HR) professionals.
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The fourth annual HR’s Favorite Things survey by Halogen Software notes that, for the fourth year in a row, HR’s favorite leisure activity is reading, cited by 23% of some 300 respondents. A distant second in this year’s survey was watching TV, movies or sports (8%), followed by shopping at 4%. Other favorites include spending time with family, gardening and swimming, according to a press release.

Food “Fetes”

As for food, pizza holds the top spot again this year, with 13% of HR pros saying it was their favorite food. Steak (5%) pushed aside last year’s number two choice – Italian food – which this year found itself in a three-way tie for third with chocolate and Mexican food.

Also for the second year running, “soda” of all kinds is the favorite beverage with 30% of HR pros saying it’s their favorite drink, up by 5% from last year, with Diet Coke cited as the beverage of choice for the soda swilling crowd, followed by Coke. Wine and spirits take the number two spot (12%), presumably outside the workplace, while iced tea was third (9%).

HR's favorite TV show continues to be "Grey's Anatomy" (third year running), though it pulled a mere 7% of responses (down 3% from a year ago), while "The Office" hung on to the number two slot, cited by 6%.

"House" is another favorite, with 5%, and other favorites include:

  • NCIS,
  • CSI,
  • Lost,
  • Dancing with the Stars, and
  • Survivor.

As for gadgets, 14% touted their iPod (though that's down by 8% from last year), just ahead of the Blackberry (12%, up 3% from last year). The iPhone was third with 4%.

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