The workplace seems a lot more competitive these days.

It's dog eat dog, according to an OfficeTeam survey, with more than three in 10 managers saying workplaces are more competitive now than they were 10 years ago.

According to the survey, 31 percent of senior managers said they think employees are much more competitive with each other today. 66 percent of employees said their workplaces are at least somewhat competitive.

"Even though the economy is recovering a little bit, I think that employees still feel that need to be competitive, to make sure that they stand out," OfficeTeam Metro Market manager Dora Onyschak in Woodbridge said.

She says competition, when properly channeled, works to everyone's advantage.

"I think that competition can really boost motivation levels and increase productivity. It can raise the bar and the skill level. So healthy competition is great," she said.

But sometimes, Onyschak said, cooperation goes south when competition hits high gear.

"If communication between co-workers is poor or non-existent, unhealthy competition kind of stifles sharing," she said. "I think that some of the signals that competition is perhaps a little out of control is if you have employees complaining about co-workers taking credit for some of their work, or what they feel that they have had a hand in."

Of those surveyed, 43 percent said they would leave jobs that became too competitive.

Joe Cutter is the afternoon news anchor on New Jersey 101.5.

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