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Applied Development Solutions los angeles . orange . san diego . ventura
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Job Satisfaction Among U.S. Employees Drops to Lowest Level in Over 22 Years
A recent report by The Conference Board (January 2010), reported the lowest levels of job satisfaction among U.S. workers in more than 22 years.
Of the 5,000 surveyed, less than half (45%) actually reported being satisfied with their jobs.
The findings are consistent when analyzed by age and income indicating that people of all ages and income brackets continue to grow increasingly unhappy at work.
The conference Board added that this should be considered a long-term trend that should be a red flag to employers.
According to Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board "While one in 10 Americans is now unemployed, their working compatriots of all ages and incomes continue to grow increasingly unhappy," says. "Through both economic boom and bust during the past two decades, our job satisfaction numbers have shown a consistent downward trend."
The youngest cohort of employees (those currently under age 25) expresses the highest level of dissatisfaction ever recorded by the survey for that age group.
"The downward trend in job satisfaction could spell trouble for the overall engagement of U.S. employees and ultimately employee productivity," adds Franco.
"Challenging and meaningful work is vitally important to engaging American workers," adds John Gibbons, program director of employee engagement research and services at The Conference Board. "Widespread job dissatisfaction negatively affects employee behavior and retention, which can impact enterprise-level success." In fact, 22 percent of respondents said they don’t expect to be in their current job in a year. “This data throws up a big, red flag because the increasing dissatisfaction is not just a ‘survivor syndrome’ artifact of having co-workers and neighbors laid off in the recession," says Gibbons.
Did You Know...
Did You Know is a thought provoking presentation which shares data with implications on how we teach and develop future generations of our workforce. We have found the presentation to be a great conversation starter during leadership development initiatives with some of ADS' client organizations.
Created by Karl Fisch, a high school administrator from Littleton, Colorado, the video has proved to create highly engaging discussions in executive suites throughout the world's top companies regarding how organizations can prepare themselves to attract and retain top talent well into the future.
