By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 business commentator
Dallas, TX – Wouldn't you think with so many Americans unemployed, those of us lucky to have a job would be exploding with satisfaction? I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Midday.
Not so, says a recent survey. The Conference Board last week revealed its findings, based on a representative sample of 5-thousand U.S. households. And the level of job satisfaction is at a record low. Eight years of surveys have found workers increasingly unhappy with their position in the labor market.
And no one is exempt from this growing discontent, except for me and a few others of you out there. All ages, all income brackets, all regions experienced an increasing number of displeasured workers.
Householders aged 35-44 had the largest decline. In '95, almost 61 percent were happy going to work. Today only 47.2 percent have job satisfaction. Once the most satisfied, this age bracket is now second to the last. The least satisfied age group is those 45-54.
What about income levels? Though still the most satisfied, householders earning in excess to $50,000 saw a big drop in numbers, from 66.5 percent to today's 53.4 percent. Money isn't everything. Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center, attempts to explain the decline: "As technology transforms the workplace - accelerating the pace of activities, increasing expectations and productivity demands, and blurring the lines of work and play - workers are steadily growing more unhappy with their jobs."
And it definitely makes a difference where in the country you work. Only 43 percent of those living in New England and the West Central States, including Texas, claim to be satisfied with their jobs. The happiest workers can be found in the West North Central states - Iowa, Kansas Missouri on up. That part I don't get. For KERA Marketplace Midday, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 p.m.
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