NATION

NATION

Poll: Business casual
is what many favor

NEW YORK — Watch out power suit. In the office, khakis are beating the pants off you.

Business casual is increasingly the wardrobe of choice among executives, a new survey has found. Almost 80 percent of executives prefer to wear more casual attire at work, and 62 percent said business casual is their standard workplace dress code.

“Bosses are much more concerned with the quality of your work than the price of your clothes,” said Marc Cenedella, president of TheLadders.com, which conducted the survey. The survey covered 1,100 executives who earn $100,000 or more annually.

The trend appears to be catching on: 42 percent of executives said more companies are adopting a less formal dress code, and 22 percent said the definition of “business casual” has stretched to include attire such as jeans.

Video games help out
stress relief at the office

NEW YORK — Coffee breaks and water-cooler chitchat are out when it comes to office stress relief. Now, video games are all the rage.

Almost a quarter of white-collar workers play video games at work, and 84 percent say they feel more relaxed after indulging, according to a survey.

Some workers admitted to gaming during business meetings or conference calls, but most played during breaks or intermittently throughout the day, according to the nonscientific survey by video game provider PopCap Games.

“To me, it’s akin to doodling,” said Garth Chouteau, a company spokesman. “You really don’t use all the mental bandwidth you have when you’re playing these games.”

Associated Press