Who Needs the Most Joe on the Job?

CANTON, Mass. & CHICAGO -- National Coffee Day is Saturday, September 29, and according to a new survey commissioned jointly by Dunkin' Donuts and CareerBuilder, food preparation and service workers are the professions that need coffee the most, followed by scientists and sales representatives. The survey results also show that coffee plays a major role in helping professionals perk up at work, as 43% of those who drink coffee claim they are less productive without a cup of Joe.

According to the results, the professions with the highest proportions of workers stating they are less productive without coffee vary widely. Those who need coffee to get through the workday the most are:

• Food Preparation/Service Workers.
• Scientists.
• Sales Representatives.
• Marketing/Public Relations Professionals.
• Nurses (Nurse, Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant).
• Editors/Writers/Media Workers. [Editor's Note: I believe this category should have ranked much higher.]
• Business Executives.
• Teachers/Instructors (K-12).
• Engineering Technicians/Support.
• IT Managers/Network Administrators.

The survey also shows other ways that coffee fits into people's "daily grind" in the workplace:

• Let's drink two: 63% of workers who drink coffee actually drink two cups or more each workday; 28% drink three cups or more.
• Coffee helps younger workers stay productive: The majority of younger workers need coffee for energy and motivation, as 62% of workers aged 18 to 24 say they are less productive without coffee, with 58% of workers aged 25 to 34 making the same claim.
• Workers in the Northeast are cup champions: 55% of workers claim to drink at least one cup of coffee each workday. Geographically, 64% of workers in the Northeast drink at least one cup per day, compared to the South at 54% and the Midwest and West at 51%.
• Higher productivity boost for women: Overall, 43% of workers who drink coffee claim they are less productive without their cup of Joe; 47% of female workers claim they are less productive without coffee, compared to 40% of male workers.

"On National Coffee Day we celebrate the important and unique role coffee plays as a vital part of our daily lives. As these survey results show, coffee continues to become more and more essential in the workplace in particular, helping workers across all professions stay productive throughout the workday," said John Costello, chief global marketing and innovation officer at Dunkin' Brands.

"There's a reason why coffee is a staple in the workplace," said Cynthia McIntyre, vice president of marketing and communications at CareerBuilder. "Workers report that coffee fuels higher energy and productivity and serves as a means to socialize with colleagues."

For the third year in a row, Dunkin' Donuts and CareerBuilder partnered to determine the latest coffee consumption trends brewing in the U.S. workplace. Harris Interactive conducted the survey online on behalf of Dunkin' and CareerBuilder among 4,152 U.S. workers (employed full-time, not self-employed) ages 18 and over between August 13 and September 6 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions).

Founded in 1950, Dunkin' Donuts is a market leader in the regular/decaf coffee, iced coffee, hot flavored coffee, donut, bagel and muffin categories. The company has more than 10,000 restaurants in 32 countries worldwide. For the full-year 2011, Dunkin' Donuts' restaurants had global franchisee-reported sales of approximately $6.4 billion. Based in Canton, Mass., Dunkin' Donuts is part of the Dunkin' Brands Group Inc. family of companies.

CareerBuilder's online career site, CareerBuilder.com, is the largest in the United States, with more than 24 million unique visitors, one million jobs and 49 million resumes. It works with the world's top employers, providing resources for everything from employment branding and talent intelligence to recruitment support. More than 10,000 websites, including 140 newspapers and broadband portals such as MSN and AOL, feature CareerBuilder's proprietary job search technology on their career sites. It is owned by Gannett Co. Inc., Tribune Co. and The McClatchy Co.