A recent survey found that while most Americans are still happy at work, they’re not as happy as they used to be.
SnagAJob.com’s third annual Labor Happiness Index found that 58 percent of workers are happy on the job, a 7 percent decrease from 2008.
“Even as we continue to face layoffs and other corporate cutbacks, the majority of the American workforce remains upbeat about their jobs,” Shawn Boyer, founder and CEO of SnagAJob.com, said. “But on the whole, we’re not as happy. Ongoing anxiety about the economy may well be chipping away at the happiness level.”
About 24 percent of respondents said their happiness is based on the fact they’re employed, while 41 percent said they’re happy their jobs give them personal satisfaction or suit their lifestyle.
The survey found that 64 percent of women are happy with their jobs, while 64 percent of those 34 to 54-years old and 70 percent of those older than 55 are content at work, and 62 percent of those happy at work are married.
The least happy workers seem to be those 18 to 34-years old, at 47 percent, and those who are not married, at 51 percent.
Overall income isn’t necessarily linked with job satisfaction. About 59 percent of workers earning less than $25,000 per year said they’re happy with their job, while 62 percent of those earning at least $50,000 are satisfied at work.
On the other hand, education levels do seem to play a factor in overall happiness. About 65 percent of those with a college degree are happy with their line of work, while only 54 percent of those with a high school education or less are happy.
The survey further found that 58 percent of workers still consider the economy to be the number one issue, followed by healthcare at 15 percent, immigration at 6 percent, the war in Iraq at 6 percent, the environment at 5 percent, terrorism at 5 percent and the housing market at 3 percent.
This is a change from the results of the first survey in 2007, which found 21 percent of respondents were most concerned about healthcare, 20 percent were concerned about the war and only 18 percent were concerned about the economy.
When it comes to the economy, 56 percent of respondents said they think the economic climate has stabilized but hasn’t begun to improve, while 36 percent said the worst is yet to come and only 4 percent think the economy has taken a turn for the better.
“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.”
Of those surveyed, 52 percent reported a decline in job security from last year, and of those, only 49 percent said they’re happy with their jobs. About 70 percent of the workers who think their jobs are more secure say they’re happy at work.
Although only 18 percent of workers made a career change last year, 33 percent of those said they chose to do so because they were looking for new opportunity, while only 25 percent said they sought new employment because they had been laid off from their previous job.
Looking ahead, 41 percent of workers said their biggest concern for the long-term future is saving for retirement, their child’s education or other large future expenses. Other financial concerns include worrying about how their family will be cared for at 19 percent, paying bills at 14 percent, their health at 12 percent, losing their job at 7 percent and a lack of job mobility at 4 percent.
About 77 percent of workers said they have no plans to look for a new job in the near future, while 73 percent said they’re not proactively thinking about changing their job.
“We’ve seen from past recessions that the hiring rebound can be fairly rapid,” Boyer added. “If the experts are accurate in predicting the end of the recession this fall, we expect that the New Year will afford job seekers a better selection of opportunities and the opportunity for employers to compete for the most talented employees.”
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September 1st, 2009 at 5:29 am
Humm..wonder if when they take this survey, if they’re mind automatically adds the word ’should’ in front of happy. IE ‘i should be happy, because hell, i have a job!’ There’s still a far ways to go to ‘Thank gawd I know what I’m good at, and my boss knows it, and that I use it here…’ Heard of the Resume Race theory?