Washington, Aug 15 (IANS) When a JetBlue flight attendant deplaned last week, many questions arose as to why someone would be willing to give up a steady job during these tough economic times.

While this "working man's hero" will most likely be questioning his motives as he hands over his lawyer's fees, a new report suggests that his action may be a sign of trouble for JetBlue and other large companies.

We spend a lot of our waking time at work, so it's not surprising that work has an influence on our well-being, reports the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science.

Psychological scientist James K. Harter of Gallup, Inc. and his colleagues found that employee perceptions of work conditions may also have a big impact on the bottom line of employing organisations, said a Gallup release.

The researchers examined data from more than 2,000 business units (retail stores, factories, sales offices) of 10 companies.

The data consisted of employee satisfaction surveys, employee retention rates, customer loyalty and financial performance of the organisations.

The results indicate that if employees have positive perceptions of their jobs, their organisations benefit via higher employee retention, increased customer loyalty and improved financial outcomes.