Excerpted from an article by Karin Lehnardt, Senior Writer at FactRetriever

• People who don’t take office politics seriously are more successful and efficient at work.
• Employees who have more control over the layout and design of their workspace are healthier and happier in the office.
• When office temperatures are low (68 degrees), employees make 44% more errors and are less productive than when temperatures are warmer (77 degrees).
• Scientists note that employees should keep working until the age of 80, but that they should only work 25 hours a week for optimal productivity.
• Procrastinating a project for work can increase focus and efficiency.
• Multitasking at work can drop a person’s IQ by ten points, which is equivalent to losing a night of sleep and twice the effect of smoking marijuana.
• The three most common jobs in America are 1) salesperson, 2) cashier, and 3) fast-food worker.
• Younger workers in the United States are injured at twice the rate of older workers. They are also at higher risk for car accidents at work due to less driving experience, lower use of seatbelts, and being more distracted.

• While working past retirement age often has positive effects such as a sense of purpose, older workers are often discriminated against.
• Working does not guarantee escaping poverty. In fact, as many as 40% of international workers do not earn enough to live above the poverty line.
• Around the world, the workweek usually falls between 40 “44 hours per week, but not everywhere. France’s workweek average is around 35 hours per week, while in North Korea, those in labor camps work over 112 hours per week.
• Early hunter-gatherers had more leisure time than those who live and work in a modern capitalist or agrarian society.
• The Industrial Revolution allowed people to work longer and year-round. Labor was no longer tied to the season or natural lighting_.
• Nearly 80% of American workers are dissatisfied with their jobs.
• In the mid 2000s, the Netherlands became the first industrialized country to drop its work week hours to below 30 hours.
• The word “work” is from the Proto-Indo-European word *werg, meaning “to do.”
• Next to fatal traffic accidents, falling is the number one cause of fatalities at work.
• Nearly 60% of people report checking their work email over Christmas and Thanksgiving.
• The U.S. lags far behind more industrialized nations in family-oriented policies, such as maternity leave, paid sick days, and breastfeeding support.
• In a phenomenon known as “karoshi,” a high number of Japanese drop dead at the work desk as a result of their 60 “70-hour workweek. Every year, over 10,000 Japanese suffer “karoshi.”
• Recirculated office air can make employees sick. Known as “Sick Building Syndrome,” the malaise includes dry skin, fatigue, headaches, and irritated eyes, nose, and throat. Symptoms usually disappear after leaving the building.