GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
Sydneysiders' love affair with the Olympic Games continues to wane -- almost half (47%) will be relieved when it's all over, and 42% said the end would make no difference to them. These and other questions in a recent survey conducted by Quadrant Research focused on "Life after the Olympics."
Now that the New Year's parties are over, the next big item on the Millennium social agenda is the games. As Sydney continues to build up to the games, and Sydneysiders navigate a city that resembles a building site full of traffic, Linda McAvenna of Quadrant Research, a subsidiary of the Gallup Organization, began to wonder what would happen afterwards. What would happen when all the sponsorship and marketing was over, the athletes gone and the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) laid to rest? Will there be an economic slump, as some are predicting, or will we all go on as usual, buoyed by a newfound confidence as a world player and prime travel destination?
Just over 300 Sydneysiders were contacted as part of Quadrant's fortnightly Omnibus Research and asked about their plans for the Olympics and their beliefs about the "Olympic Effect."
Results are striking, since they reflect the expectations of average people, rather than the forecasts of professional analysts. They also show plans for changes to work life that may have implications for the future, long after the games are over.
Respondents were asked if they expected that employment opportunities after the Olympics would increase, show little or no change or decrease. Answers showed an expected post-party slump. While 11% expected opportunities to increase, 30% expected little or no change, and more than half (58%) expected a decrease. We may assume that at least some of these respondents are employers, and therefore are planning on little or no growth for their businesses.
Attitudes regarding property prices also show expectations of a decrease, although this will not necessarily be seen as bad news by many home buyers -- 36% of respondents anticipate a post-Olympic decrease. Not everyone is buying the analysts' prediction of a slump, however. Twenty-three percent of respondents, in fact, predict an increase in prices, with males (29%), 25-34 year olds (33%), and 39% overall expecting little or no change. Considering the extent to which community expectations influence markets, Sidneysiders might be wise to factor these results into any portfolio planning. The most wealthy Sidneysiders -- those earning more than $80,000 a year, and who might be considered best at predicting the financial future -- expect no change (51%), and 37% expect a decrease in property prices.
A similar expectation of no change, or a decrease, appears in terms of consumer spending. Half of respondents (51%) expect no change, and a third (31%) anticipate a decrease. Fifteen percent expect an increase, a similar percentage to those who expect employment to increase and property prices to rise.
On a different front, the community is evenly divided about the ongoing problem of Sydney's traffic congestion. Somewhat optimistically, 39% expect a decrease in congestion after the Olympics. However, 27% expect an increase, and 33% expect no change. Males and 25-34 year-olds are the most pessimistic.
When asked questions relating to changes to working life during the Olympics, 45% of employers indicate they are planning changes to normal routines during the games. Topping the list of changes is "taking holiday time to leave Sydney" (25%). Nineteen percent plan to "reduce or alter their working hours," 14% plan to "take holiday time to go to the Olympics," and 8% are planning to work from home. Fourteen percent plan no changes to their work routine.
The answers to these questions could have implications for working life into the future beyond the Games. If, for example, employers and employees find that working from home was as efficient as working from the office, employees may want to continue incorporating one or more days at home into the normal working week. And what if the same amount of work could be done in fewer hours? Recent ABS statistics show that one in four workers would prefer to work fewer hours. The Olympic period could be considered a huge experiment in alternative working conditions that may better suit employees.
Overall then, Quadrant Research sees a rather subdued reaction to the Olympics, with changes to working life for about half the working population, and some expectation of an economic slump, although not quite as much as has been predicted. In general, employment is expected to be hardest hit. In other areas, a majority of Sidneysiders expects things to basically go back to normal. Given that Sidney has been in the grip of Olympic and Millennium fervour for so long, it may be difficult to remember what normal is.
Survey Methods
These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly
selected national sample of 304 residents of Sydney, Australia, 18
years and older, conducted February 12-13, 2000. For results based
on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the
maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is
plus or minus 5 percentage points. In addition to sampling error,
question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys
can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion
polls.