like i said. just a guess on my part, BUT... i would guess the less intelligent you are, the less you like your job.
Posted on 02/24/2007 7:47:13 AM PST by shrinkermd
Americans are growing increasingly unhappy with their jobs, The Conference Board reports today. The decline in job satisfaction is widespread among workers of all ages and across all income brackets.
Half of all Americans today say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from nearly 60 percent in 1995. But among the 50 percent who say they are content, only 14 percent say they are “very satisfied.”
This report, which is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households, conducted for The Conference Board by TNS, a leading market information company (LSE: TNN), also includes information collected independently by TNS. This information reveals that approximately one-quarter of the American workforce is simply “showing up to collect a paycheck.”
“Rapid technological changes, rising productivity demands and changing employee expectations have all contributed to the decline in job satisfaction,” says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center. “As large numbers of baby boomers prepare to leave the workforce, they will be increasingly replaced by younger workers, who tend to be as dissatisfied with their jobs, but have different attitudes and expectations about the role of work in their lives. This transition will present a new challenge for employers.”
Money Can’t Buy Me Love
The survey finds that job satisfaction has declined across all income brackets in the last nine years. While 55 percent of workers earning more than $50,000 are satisfied with their jobs, only 14 percent claim they are very satisfied. At the other end of the pay scale (workers earning less than $15,000), about 45 percent of workers are satisfied, but only 17 percent express a strong level of satisfaction.
The survey also finds that employees are least satisfied with their companies’ bonus plans, promotion policies, health plans and pensions. The majority are most satisfied with their commutes to work and their relationships with colleagues.
“Less than one-third of all supervisors and managers are perceived to be strong leaders,” says Shubhra Ramchandani, North American Stakeholder Management Practice Leader at TNS. “The Enron/Worldcom era of corporate scandals and the outsourcing of jobs have increased the level of employee discontent. Shrugging off employee disengagement would be a disastrous, short-sighted view creating lasting global repercussions for American business.”
Job Satisfaction – by Age, Income and Region
The largest decline in overall job satisfaction, from 60.9% to 49.2%, occurred among workers 35-44. The second largest decline took place among workers aged 45-54, with the satisfaction level dropping from 57.3% to 47.7%.
The smallest decline occurred among workers 65 and over. Overall job satisfaction declined from 60.8% to 58.0%, making this group the most satisfied with their jobs.
The largest decline in job satisfaction took place among householders earning $25,000 to $35,000, with satisfaction falling from 55.7% to 41.4%. This income group expressed the second lowest level of overall satisfaction.
The second largest decline was posted by householders earning $35,000-$50,000. This group experienced a decline from 59.7% to 46.7%. With less than 47% of householders claiming to be satisfied with their current job, workers in the Middle Atlantic and Mountain states are the least satisfied workers in the U.S.
The East South Central region has the most content workers. Close to 59% of residents in these states claim they are satisfied with their jobs.
Company promotion policies and bonus plans tended to be the lowest on the satisfaction scale.
Educational and job training programs did not fare well either. Only 30% of workers claimed to be satisfied with these types of company programs.
Workers also rated their wages poorly, with only 33.5% of householders expressing satisfaction with their pay.
Additional results from the supplemental survey conducted by TNS in August 2004 include:
40% of workers feel disconnected from their employers. Two out of every three workers do not identify with or feel motivated to drive their employer's business goals and objectives. 25% of employees are just “showing up to collect a paycheck.”
The Conference Board is launching a Working Group on Employee Engagement and Commitment on March 1, 2005. According to Conference Board research, employees in the U.S. feel dissatisfied and disconnected from their employers at an alarmingly high rate. Yet companies need to ensure they have a stable, engaged workforce poised to take them into the next decade. The working group provides executives with a forum to discuss issues with their peers and learn from experts about how to keep their workforces engaged and motivated. Working group participants will be able to survey a portion of their workforce and will receive a customized report benchmarking their companies’ employee engagement results against the national labor market. At the kickoff meeting on March 1 in New York City, working group members will learn about the survey methodology and participate in customizing the survey. For more information, contact Lorrie Foster at (212) 339-0410.
For further information contact: Lynn Franco at (1) 212 339 0344. lynn.franco@conference-board.org
Unemployment is low so these whiners should have no problem finding work elsewhere.
This sort of poll is about the most useless I have seen.
No surprises. American businesses have treated their workforce as essentially disposable for decades now. The irony is that with the declining number of people available to join the workforce, it's now the businesses themselves that are viewed as disposable by their employees.
In the long run, I don't think the impact will be all that bad. People will tend towards becoming self-employed. Which is a good thing in my view.
As an unscientific aside- on Friday's the comute to work is accompanied by very light traffic.The crowds in the area where I work are way down. On the days before holidays the city and the building where I work is virtually empty. In short people cannot wait to get away.
My last job thye would have tattooed barcodes to our foreheads and issued property numbers if they could have.
"Unemployment is low so these whiners should have no problem finding work elsewhere. "
should they be sayin 'thank you massir' Employers who don't treat their employees with respect get what they pay for.
Modern corporations treat their employees as disposable.
Isn't it amazing, that this disappointment with a career started shortly after the implementation of "the bottom line".
Sacrificing loyalty for profits seems to have finally reared its ugly head, or, maybe management will finally unplug their heads from their ugly rears.
"Sacrificing loyalty for profits seems to have finally reared its ugly head, or, maybe management will finally unplug their heads from their ugly rears."
By and large its the publically owned companies who treat their employees so badly. Privately owned companies usually fare better.
Kind of a dumb survey, isn't it? Human nature is to be dissatisfied with what you have which is why we look for better jobs, nicer houses, sharper cars, "better mousetraps", etc. If there was no dissatisfaction, we'd all still be living in caves and rubbing sticks together.
Those companies that treat their employees badly will lose them to other companies that do not, unless that is the employee cannot make the same money elsewhere. In that case he/she needs to STFU. In the end we all work for the money rather then the love of work (I know, there are exceptions).
The alternative is for the moonbat left to pass laws requiring employers to meet some ill defined standards intended to make them all things to all workers. A sure recipe for disaster for the economic vigor of the most productive and wealthiest nation to ever exist on planet earth.
"By and large its the publically owned companies who treat their employees so badly. Privately owned companies usually fare better."
It seems, these days that we do not mind monopolies. Publically owned companies are swallowing up the smaller companies, and undermining our "Made in America" pride.
IMHO, this also undermines our national pride. World War II was won with pride, and hard working patriots, men and women, who worked in factories and were a part of the war effort.
We, I, feel disassociated with a government that takes from my paycheck before I even see it, gives it to others that have not earned it, and allows my country to be "globalized" by international corporations.
"I'm feeling much better, NOW." - Night Court
"Hey Jim, how are you doing?"
"It's Monday." :(
"Hey Jim, how are you doing?"
"It's Friday!" :)
they might just find things being better in ye olde workplace.
like i said. just a guess on my part, BUT... i would guess the less intelligent you are, the less you like your job.
“Rapid technological changes, rising productivity demands and changing employee expectations have all contributed to the decline in job satisfaction,”
I suspect the more we use computers the unhappier we become. Frankly after dealing with the damn things at work I am glad to come home and not use one, well except for accessing Free Republic.
Walking away from one of those huge monopolies saved my life.
I worked my tail off and did my job well. However, my biggest problem was that I would not kiss hump.
Many are finding out that money, even lots of it, does not fill your heart's needs. Howard Hughes and Anna Nicole Smith are proof of that fact.
For your consideration, I am wending $5.00.
Nothing at all ill-defined about what the left wants for business - mandated 30-hour work weeks, universal health care, mandatory unionization of all employees, hiring quotas based on race, gender, sexual orientation, disabilty, etc., 6 months paid family leave per year above and beyond mandated minimum vacation time requirements, wage and price controls, endless regulation at the federal level of safety requirements, ergonomic standards, energy consumption requirements, etc. Lots of these are already in place in Europe.
LOL, if they get what they want then the very companies they regulate will see capital flee from them in the form of investors selling the stock in order to seek better returns elsewhere, probably China or some other developing nations who don't have this sort of regulation.
Ultimately the markets always work and cannot be effectively regulated by passing a law.
I agree.
The stress of having to master a new technology, in addition to one's USUAL duties and skill maintenance requirements, is really wearing people out.
It's like a second job -- only without pay, in most cases...
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