Fifty-one percent of the respondents to an online poll said the WorldCom collapse has had a negative business impact for them. And of those who say that it has not, 36% said they expect that it will.
In a poll conducted on this Web site, the audience was asked: "Has the WorldCom debacle negatively affected your business?" Fifty-one percent responded yes, while, 18% of total respondents said, "No, but I expect it will." Another 31% of the total respondents said, "No, and I don't expect it to."
The site's audience is diverse, and includes professionals who design, install, and use cabling systems. Because the site's voting mechanism does not capture any demographic data from the voter, no information is available to further break down the responses of any particular discipline.
The voting took place between July 16 and July 29, 2002-meaning voting began before WorldCom filed for bankruptcy protection. According to site editor Patrick McLaughlin, voting trends remained consistent throughout the two-week period. "Just about half the voters were responding in the affirmative, both before and after the bankruptcy filing," he said. "And of those saying that they have not been affected, the voters who are confident they will not be affected in the future have strongly outnumbered those who fear they will be affected by the mess."
