The Living Dead
Switched Off, Zoned Out - The Shocking Truth About Office Life
Switch on the business news and you will probably be bombarded with
yet more workplace experts telling you that everyone nowadays is
grossly overworked, madly juggling their work-life balance until
they finally keel over and die from the sheer stress of it all. We
all know that's right, don't we?
The real truth is that there are millions upon millions of
people who are actively disengaged from their jobs, who spend
months and years sitting in offices doing next to nothing, lost in
the cracks of laughably inefficient and abysmally managed large
organisations, their talents wasted and long forgotten. The Living
Dead unmasks the myth of the workplace for the first time. It tells
the truth. Not cloaked in humour, as in Dilbert and The Office, but
in plain black and white.
The Living Dead will captivate anyone anywhere in the world who
has ever worked in a large office environment, or those who have a
genuine desire to make people's working lives more productive and
enjoyable.
Here are some astonishing statistics about office life you
probably never knew:
* 40 per cent of all casual drugs users in the US (people
who use drugs just once a month) still choose to do it at work.
19.6 per cent of people who take drugs at work do so at their
workstation.
* One in three mid-week visitors to the theme park Alton Towers
has taken the day off work on a dishonest pretext.
* One in five US workers has had sex with a co-worker during work
hours. Full sex, that is. 44 per cent of men and 35 per
cent of women have had at least some sexual contact at
work.
* One third of UK young professionals are hungover at least twice
a week on working days. Two thirds admitted to having called in
sick due to alcohol at least once in the previous month.
* 70 per cent of Internet porn sites are accessed during the 9 to
5 working day.
* More than half of the UK's 14.5 million pet owners say they
would need between two and five days off work to grieve for a dead
pet, while 10 per cent said they would need as much as two
weeks.
* Monday (23 per cent) and Friday (25 per cent) are the days most
commonly taken off sick by UK employees. Wednesday is the most
rarely taken (8 per cent).
* UK doctors receive 9 million 'suspicious' or 'questionable'
requests each year for sick notes.
David Bolchover writes frequently on business and management issues
for The Times and The Sunday Times as well as a number of other
national newspapers and specialist publications. His first book,
The 90-Minute Manager, outlines the lessons which business managers
can learn from football managers. Previously, he was employed for
several years in a large office. But now he wants to do something
with his life.
Chapter 1. Unearthing the Last Taboo
Chapter 2. My Life in the Cracks.
Chapter 3. Money for Nothing.
Chapter 4. The Quest for Meaning.
Chapter 5. The Whole Truth, and Nothing But.
Chapter 6. The Invisible Manager.
Chapter 7. Autopsy and Resurrection.
Chapter 8. The End of the Corporate Monolith?.
Epilogue: The Kiss of Life.
Index.
in a large office..."(Thisiswiltshire.co.uk, 4th October 05)
"...The Living Dead will captivate anyone anywhere in the world who
has ever worked in a large office environment..." (Swindon
Advertiser, 4th October 2005)
"...Even if you are not one of the living dead, you will find
this book fascinating, entertaining and thought-provoking..."
(Reading Chronicle, 9th December 2005)
"...an interesting and unusual read..." (Professional Manager,
January 2006)
"Fantastic book...which wittily debunks popular myths about the
modern workplace..." (EN Magazine, Dec 05)
"...an interesting and unusual read..." (Professional Manager,
Jan 2006)
"...a fascinating discussion of the perils of presenteeism..."
(ISCO Careerscope, Spring 06)
"...a lovely waltz through what happens to us after we exit
university...it makes fantastic reading..." (IET
Engineering Management, August 2006)
"...wry British wit...recommends...to students of organisational
behaviour and anyone who has ever played computer solitaire at the
office." (getAbstract, August 2006)
"... explores the phenomenon of The Living Dead in an open,
direct and serious way ..." (Business Executive, November 2006)
'...open, direct and serious...with sufficient
humour...' ( Business Executive, November 2006)
