Daily Research News Online no. 3856

Dissatisfied States

March 3 2005

Americans are growing increasingly unhappy with their jobs, according to a recent report from The Conference Board, based on research by TNS. The decline in job satisfaction is widespread among workers of all ages and across all income brackets. Half of all Americans say they are satisfied with their jobs, down from nearly 60% in 1995.

Among the 50% who say they are content, only 14 percent say they are 'very satisfied'. Areas of least satisfaction are company bonus plans, promotion policies, health plans and pensions, whereas the majority are most satisfied with their commutes to work and their relationships with colleagues.

Job satisfaction has declined across all income brackets in the last nine years. While 55% of workers earning more than $50,000 are satisfied with their jobs, only 14% claim they are very satisfied. At the other end of the pay scale (workers earning less than $15,000), the corresponding figures are 45% and 17%.

Shubhra Ramchandani, North American Stakeholder Management Practice Leader at TNS, says corporate scandals and outsourcing of jobs have increased employee discontent. 'Less than one-third of all supervisors and managers are perceived to be strong leaders... Shrugging off employee disengagement would be a disastrous, short-sighted view creating lasting global repercussions for American business'.

Workers aged 35-44 show the biggest decline in overall job satisfaction, from 60.9% to 49.2%, while those aged 65 and over held up much better (from 60.8% down only slightly to 58%). Workers in the Middle Atlantic and Mountain states are the least satisfied (under 47%) while those in the East South Central region are most content (almost 59%).

In a supplemental survey conducted by TNS in August 2004, 25% of employees said they were 'just showing up to collect a paycheck'. The Conference Board this week launched a Working Group on Employee Engagement and Commitment to address the issue.

The report is based on a representative sample of 5,000 US households. The Conference Board is online at www.conference-board.org

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.