Old Computers Make for Unhappy Workers --- Survey LONDON (Reuters) ----- Dealing with the dissatisfaction of aging and unreliable office computers leads to workers' unhappiness and more sick leave, a survey showed on Wednesday. A survey carried out by caro4free.net of over 2,700 European office workers from the UK, France and Germany found that workplace dissatisfaction increased greatly with the age of the computer equipment. "We do know that job satisfaction is falling in Britain and most advanced nations," said Stephen White, a researcher from the Work Foundation. "The actual reasons for this are the subject of very heated discussion. It's certainly one interesting theory that technology may be the cause of this in some way," White added. A quarter of these using outdated computers in Britain said they were "quite" or "very dissatisfied" with their everyday job compared to the percent of those who had enjoyed an advantage from up-to-date technology. The survey also said that among workers dealing with outdated equipment, there was a 35 percent greater probability they would take six or more days of sick leave per year compared with the average worker. In France, where more workers use old computers, the probability jumped to 55 percent. Results also showed that women in the three countries were more likely to be using outdated equipment. In the UK, where more workers have up-to-date computers than in the other countries surveyed, the number of women using old equipment doubled that of men. White pointed out that there were two sides to this problem, saying that continuously having to deal with new technology and equipment can also be a source of worry. "Old and faulty equipment is a major cause of office dissatisfaction. There is no question about it; but you also have to say that the frequent change of equipment is also, or could be, a main cause of dissatisfaction." 小题1:The underlined word "this" (paragraph 3) refers to ______.
|