IT is a tough job, we'll give you that. But it's also a workplace fraught with inappropriate behavior, according to a recent survey.

The survey by CareerBuilder of 5,000 respondents found that 4 out of 10 believe they don't fit in with their co-workers. According to the report, the IT sector ranked in the top five for jobs where workers feel disconnected and put off by their co-workers

"Today's workplace is made up of many different types of people and sometimes behavior can come across as being crazy or inappropriate for the office," CareerBuilder Vice President Rosemary Haefner said in a statement.

Could it be the stress or the age of the workers--young, that is? Could it be the working hours and the constant fear of cutbacks? Could it be not enough supervision or maybe there's too much?

Here are just a few examples of bad behavior chronicled by eWeek.com:

• Eating the cheese off the pizza box at a company meeting
• Chewing tobacco and spitting it into empty soda bottles.
• Bringing a baby sippy cup to a meeting and drinking out of it.
• Cleaning fingernails using a counterpart's business card while sitting in their office.

These examples are too good to be made up. And it clearly telegraphs the message: "Human resources...we have a problem." It's important to identify where the problem is coming from, and more importantly to stop it, according to HR executives.

For more on workers misbehaving:
- see this eWeek.com article

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