1
Survey finds job satisfaction very low
Frustrated businesswoman
To view this content, Javascript must be enabled and Adobe Flash Player must be installed.
TEXT OF STORY
Bill Radke: A new survey finds job satisfaction among workers lucky enough to be employed is down. Nearly half of Americans surveyed are unhappy with their work. Marketplace's Nancy Marshall Genzer looks into it.
Nancy Marshall Genzer: The survey, released today by the Conference Board, found that only 45 percent of the workers surveyed were satisfied. That was the lowest level recorded in more than 20 years of research.
The report says the bad economy is to blame. High unemployment makes it hard to find interesting work. Workers' incomes haven't kept up with inflation. And they're having to contribute more toward their health insurance.
Employees under age 25 were the most unhappy. They face fewer opportunities and low wages. The Conference Board says overall job satisfaction has been falling steadily for the past two decades. Since 2000, average household incomes adjusted for inflation have been shrinking.
In Washington, I'm Nancy Marshall Genzer for Marketplace.
I wouldn't blame the economy for the source of unhappiness but bad managers. Think about it, what normally fixes companies with bad managers and unhappy employees? Employees strike or go find another job. If they can't find another job then executives are blind to their morale problems.
In my group at work they keep on trying to hire people in the group but fail to realize if they just managed effectively we'd probably have too many people. My manager projects his insecurities on to all his employees by making clear he doesn't want them to excel in the company and any contact with people outside of his control without his presence is forbidden.
Many companies will be in for a rude surprise when the economy starts to pick up. Some companies will realize that they can't treat their knowledge workers like expense workers. But by the time they decide to make changes it will be too late.
