I know my company doesn't allow them:

[sadie65]

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pb ... 8803140342

Personal Finance






ADVERTISEMENT


Workbytes: Workers who are chained to earbuds annoy others

The days of being able to enjoy music in the office might be numbered.

First some background:



Author Russ Reindeau (“The CEO's Guide to Talent Acquisition”) says music has been part of the business world since cavemen (and the cavewomen who supervised them) sang to celebrate a successful woolly mammoth hunt. Music, he said, is proved to boost productivity and staff morale through the release of endorphin, a feel-good chemical in the brain.

“Music's a universal tool for all cultures and generations of workers,” he told Workbytes.
Even the Seven Dwarfs whistled while they worked (except Gummy, who you'll recall had no teeth). The positive effects are why the British Broadcasting Corp. in 1940 launched a radio show, “Music While You Work,” aimed at factory employees. A decade or so later, Muzak Corp. invented elevator music, and someone else came up with a bunch of FM stations that all use “life” in their call letters.

But for the most part, music at the office stayed in the background. You really didn't notice it, although you sometimes found yourself humming a crappy Air Supply song as you brushed your teeth before bed. (Please tell Workbytes you brush your teeth before bed.)

Of course, one person's music can be another person's Styx. So employees began to look for ways they could listen only to the music they wanted. Remember the ‘80s when everyone in the office had a boom box the size of a major household appliance perched on their shoulders? Of course not, because the trend didn't really take off until Walkmans were developed. It has exploded with iPods, MP3 players and music-capable cell phones.

And so has the backlash.

A Harris Interactive survey for the folks at Spherion, one of Workbytes' favorite staffing firms, showed that one-third of U.S. workers now listen to music on MP3 players or similar devices while on the clock. One in 10 said they spend more than half the workday tuned to their own tunes. An informal survey by Workbytes found a half-dozen people in the office blissfully working away with their earbuds installed.

As with any other popular workplace trend (the three-martini lunch, for example, or Mesh T-shirt Mondays) Workbytes predicts that corporate honchos will soon change their tune on music at work.

There will be a string of memos that lead to high-level meetings, the result of which will be a bunch of new anti-music policies.

Nancy Halverson of Spherion already has suggested that employers set ground rules to address:

* Communication: It can be tough to catch the attention of an earbud-wearing co-worker.

* Safety: Warning alarms and shouts can be drowned out when the “Once” soundtrack is being pumped straight to your cochlea.

* Security: Digital storage devices can hold company information, trade secrets or customer data. It's also possible for a player to infect a company network with a virus.

Others would take a tougher approach.

“We do not look kindly on anyone who puts on earphones and starts listening to iPods,” Mario Almonte, a vice president at Herman Associates, a New York City marketing company, told USA Today. “It looks like you're not working, and it's not a professional presentation. It's still a device that distracts you.”

So if you're one of those people who likes to work in a melody-filled world of your own, enjoy it while you can.

“The downside of earbuds in the workplace is that it sends a message to others that you don't want to be bothered, or it could imply ‘I'm not part of the team, so count me out,”' Reindeau warned.

Even though he supports the right to plug in at work, “music, even in the background, is a distraction for me.”

“But I listen in the car, while riding a stationary bike, while reading at home, and before going to bed,” he added.

We'll bet he brushes his teeth first. While he hums Air Supply.


Larry Ballard and Karen Mracek take turns writing the Workbytes column. Workbytes appears Fridays in Dollars & Sense.

[brywool]

ugh...
I'm sure earbuds at work will end soon...

[Blue Falcon]

http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008803140342



Of course, one person's music can be another person's Styx.