How do you feel about your job?
If you're like 55% of the 5,000 Americans surveyed by the
Conference Board research group, it's likely that work is unsatisfying, uninteresting,
or for some, doesn't allow you to keep afloat.
The report, which is also based on a 2008 survey of 227
global companies and a 2009 pulse survey gauging the impact of the recent
financial crisis, says that job satisfaction in America has hit a 22 year low. While
many are quick to point to the recession as a main culprit, the Conference
Board, an organization that conducts the survey each year, has said that the
decline in job satisfaction has been on the rise for more than two decades.
Findings
The survey touched upon what the organization refers to as
"four crucial drivers of employee engagement": job design, organizational
health, managerial quality, and intrinsic rewards. This year, satisfaction was
down across each of the four drivers.
With regard to job design, only 51% of survey participants
said their jobs are interesting, another 22 year low. Comparatively, 70% of
workers in 1987 were interested in their jobs.
Another major contributor to the rise in job dissatisfaction
is weak wage growth. According the Conference Board, household incomes that
were adjusted for inflation throughout the 1980s and 1990s have been shrinking
since 2000. Similarly, the number of workers contributing to their health
insurance has increased three-fold since 1980. From 1999-2006 alone, employee
health care contributions nearly doubled.
Other findings include:
- Job security: 43% of workers feel secure in
their jobs in 2009. Some 47% felt secure in 2008.
-
Interpersonal relationships: 56% say they like
their co-workers, a figure that is down 1% from last year.
- Despite commute time increases, 56% of people
are satisfied with their commute.
- Just over half of the people surveyed (51%) are
satisfied with their boss, down from 55% in 2008 and 60% in the 1980s.
Who's Happy and Why
Does it Matter?
The largest group of dissatisfied workers is those under 25
years of age. The report claims that the recession was particularly tough on
this demographic, making it harder to find jobs in general - and for a fair
wage.
Those with the most satisfaction are between 25 and 34 years
old. Nearly 47% of workers in this demographic answered positively, citing more
opportunities for upward mobility as baby boomers retire as a factor.
According to Linda Barrington, managing director of Human
Capital, The Conference Board, "The growing dissatisfaction across and between
generations is important to address because it can directly impact the quality
of multi-generational knowledge transfer-which is increasingly critical to
effective workplace functioning."
Thoughts
I didn't think the Conference Board findings were
particularly eye-opening, but I felt like I needed more information. Mostly, I'm
interested in the types of jobs the 5,000 people surveyed hold or held at the
time they were questioned now and in 1987 (the original year of the survey,
used for comparison). The types of jobs available in the U.S have changed
throughout the years; consider what would be more "satisfying," being a
hands-on engineer, or logging engineering data into a computer.
What do you think?
- Are you satisfied at your job? Why or why not?
- What makes a job satisfying?
- Does it matter if a job is satisfying?
Resources:
http://www.conference-board.org/utilities/pressDetail.cfm?press_ID=3820
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34691428/ns/business-careers/page/2/
http://www.10news.com/money/22125959/detail.html
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