Some 82% of workers are concerned about the ethics of the companies they work for and the people they work with, and a third say they have changed jobs because of their ethical concerns, the AP reports.

This is one of those surveys that must be taken with a grain of salt because it comes from a firm that consults with employers on ethics. The question that must be asked is, “Are the results inflated to create a sense of a problem,” or not. Because the survey isn’t attached to the AP story, the questions and cross tabs can’t be analyzed in depth. But the summary on LRN’s website, which is linked below, gives a pretty detailed report on the study and looks pretty solid.

Having said that, concerns about the ethics of employers and their workers are important to every company and its customers. Enron showed, if there is a lack of ethics at the top, don’t be surprised about the kind of people the employer hires.

When employers and their workers are seen as unethical by their employees, the word gets out and affects the employer’s standing in the community, ability to hire smart, honest people, and its ability to survive, much less grow.