American Workers Most Satisfied With Workplace Safety, Relations With Co-Workers

Gallup.com ^ | Friday, September 7, 2001 | by Jeffrey M. Jones

[JohnHuang2]

PRINCETON, NJ -- A recent Gallup poll shows that more than eight in 10 American workers are satisfied with their current jobs, including 41% who say they are "completely satisfied." When asked to rate their satisfaction with several aspects of their jobs, workers are most satisfied with the physical safety of their workplaces and their relations with co-workers. On-the-job stress and pay are the two aspects with which Americans are least satisfied.

The poll, conducted August 16-19, assessed workers’ satisfaction with 17 different aspects of their jobs. More than six in 10 workers say they are "completely satisfied" with the physical safety conditions of their workplaces and their relations with co-workers. Slightly fewer say they are satisfied with the flexibility of their hours. More than half express a high level of satisfaction with the opportunity they have to do what they do best, their job security, the amount of vacation time they receive, the overall contribution their employers make to society, and their bosses or immediate supervisors.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, less than a quarter of workers are completely satisfied with the amount of on-the-job-stress in their jobs and the amount of money they earn. Workers also express some displeasure with the benefits they receive from their employers, as only about a third are completely satisfied with their retirement plans and health insurance benefits.

Very few differences exist on the various job aspects by subgroup, even though an earlier Gallup Poll analysis showed that higher-income and more educated respondents tend to express higher levels of overall job satisfaction. The data do show that those with a high school education or less tend to be more satisfied with their bosses than are those with at least some college education, by a 59% to 47% margin. Additionally, women are more likely than men to say they are completely satisfied with their bosses or immediate supervisors (55% to 47%) and with the overall contribution their employers make to society (57% to 47%).

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 599 adults, 18 years and older, currently employed full-time or part-time, conducted August 16-19, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 4 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

To read questions in poll, point and click here.

For Education And Discussion Only. Not For Commercial Use.

[gov_bean_ counter]

Thus taking away another arrow from the Dems. Workplace safety under Bush will suffer (LOL).

[JohnHuang2]

The Dems have cried wolf! wolf! too many times. They're basically irrelevant, now.

[Balding_Eagle]

One of the (few) unexpected and pleasant surprises of a slow economy and layoffs. People again realize they are lucky to have a job, and appreciate it more.

[JohnHuang2]

Good point.