More Than Half of U.S. Workers Happy at Work

More Than Half of U.S. Workers Happy at Work

WorldAtWork.com

More Than Half of U.S. Workers Happy at Work

Sept. 1, 2009 — Despite layoffs, salary cuts and decreases in benefits, Americans seem to be happy at work — just not as happy as they used to be, according to a recent survey.

The third annual SnagAJob.com Labor Happiness Index found that 58% of the U.S. workforce says they are happy on the job; however, that is down 7 percentage points from 2008.

“Even as we continue to face layoffs and other corporate cutbacks, the majority of the American workforce remains upbeat about their jobs,” said Shawn Boyer, founder and CEO of SnagAJob.com. “But on the whole, we’re not as happy. Ongoing anxiety about the economy may well be chipping away at the happiness level.”

Survey results show that 24% of workers said their happiness was based on the fact that they were employed and 41% said they were happy that their jobs give them personal satisfaction or suit their lifestyle. The survey also found that 56% of respondents believe the economic climate has stabilized but has not begun to improve; 36% of workers fear that the worst is yet to come; 4% think the economy has turned the corner.

“It’s clear that most Americans are cautiously optimistic about their jobs and the economy itself,” Boyer said. “We believe the economy is moving in the right direction based on the feedback we’re getting from hiring managers across the country.”

On the other hand, the survey also found that 52% of respondents reported a decline in job security from a year ago; of those, 49% expressed happiness with their jobs. Conversely, the survey found, 70% of those who think their jobs are secure say they are happy at work.

Survey results show that women (64%) seem to be the happiest in the work place, as are workers between 34-54 (64%), workers over age 55 (70%) and workers who are married (62%). Interestingly, income levels weren’t linked with overall job satisfaction: 59% of workers who earn less than $25,000 annually said they are happy with their job and 62% of workers who earn at least $50,000 said they are happy with their job. Education level is a factor, though: 65% of those with a college degree were happy in their line of work and 54% of those with a high school education or less said they were happy.

Survey Methodology
SnagAJob.com’s third annual Labor Happiness survey, conducted July 9-15, 2009, by Ipsos Public Affairs, was culled from a nationally representative sample of 1,006 randomly selected working adults aged 18 and over living in the U.S. They were interviewed by telephone via Ipsos’ U.S. Telephone Express omnibus. With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate within +/-3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what they would have been had the entire population of working adults in the U.S. been polled. The margin of error will be larger within regions and for other sub-groupings of the survey population. These data were weighted to ensure the sample’s regional and age/gender composition reflects that of the actual U.S. population according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Contents © 2009 WorldatWork. No part of this article may be reproduced, excerpted or redistributed in any form without express written permission from WorldatWork.

Access Original Post: http://www.worldatwork.org/waw/adimComment?id=34231

***********************************************************************
http://dreamlearndobecome.blogspot.com This posting was made my Jim Jacobs, President & CEO of Jacobs Executive Advisors. Jim also serves as Leader of Jacobs Advisors' Insurance Practice.