In the wake of the Great Resignation and the collective reshuffling, reimagining and reinventing of when, where and why we do our jobs, much has been said about how we as workers feel about the state of employment today.
To listen to the constant headlines of mass worker migrations and big-name company layoffs, it would be easy to think that Americans are unsatisfied with their jobs. But, that would be an oversimplification of a complex — and ever-evolving — concept. Because Americans spend one-third of their lives at work, it’s only natural that we would have some strong feelings about the quality and quantity of that time spent.
How We Feel About Work Now, By the Numbers
The Pew Research Center recently released a report tackling this very topic, and the results were perhaps somewhat unexpected. Despite the rise of remote and hybrid work arrangements, the majority of workers (67%) reported feeling connected to their coworkers, while 62% view their relationship with their manager or supervisor favorably.
However, when you break down the data further, some startling statistics emerge. Only 51% of employees are highly satisfied with their job overall, and less than half of the respondents were happy with their employer benefits, training and career development opportunities, and their pay.
Meanwhile, 47% of workers say their job is fulfilling, 29% say it’s stressful and 19% say it’s overwhelming all or most of the time. This leaves a lot of room for interpretation of what being content means in our current roles.
What is causing this confounding disparity?
Perhaps not surprisingly, on many measures of workplace satisfaction, views differ widely by income. Workers with higher incomes are more likely than those with lower and middle incomes to say they are extremely or very satisfied with their job overall and to say the same about the benefits their employer provides, their opportunities for training and to develop new skills, how much they are paid, and their opportunities for promotion. Larger shares of upper-income workers also say the contributions they make at work are valued a great deal or fair amount, that their employer cares about their well-being at least a fair amount, and that the safety and health conditions at their workplace are excellent or very good.
Studies also show that having a purpose in our positions is also key to our career satisfaction. A PwC survey revealed that 83% of employees rank having meaning in their day-to-day work as a top priority, while only 52% of business leaders feel the same. While business leaders prioritize the commercial value of purpose, employees see purpose as a way to bring meaning to their work and understand the contributions they are making to the company as well as society in order to be fully engaged.
And, satisfied workers mean a more successful organization: An extensive study into happiness and productivity by Oxford University’s Saïd Business School in collaboration with British multinational telecoms firm BT has found that workers are 13 percent more productive when they are happy in their roles.
How Technology Is Playing a Pivotal Role
Another factor messing with our ability to fully enjoy our jobs? The unsettling acceleration of technology and the many ways it is being rapidly implemented in the workplace.
The news is coming fast and furious: AI could replace the equivalent of 300 million jobs. OpenAI says 80% of workers could see their jobs impacted by AI. It’s enough to keep any (human) employee up at night.
In another telling Pew Research Center study, 62% of American workers believe that artificial intelligence will have a major impact on jobholders overall in the next 20 years. When it comes to Americans’ opinions about the impact of AI use in the workplace on the overall U.S. economy, 56% think over the next two decades the impact will considerable. When asked about potentially beneficial or harmful effects of AI in workplaces in the next 20 years, a higher share say it will hurt more than help workers.
This seems largely to be the fear of the unknown and the outsized influence technological tools such as ChatGPT are having in this moment. Only time will tell if these fears are unfounded, or if these newly minted resources will actually help create jobs, a conundrum that is causing more uneasiness around long-term job security and satisfaction.
Young Professionals Paving the Way
How do recent grads and young professionals feel about their current career prospects? Understandably unnerved.
They are answering this uncertainty by shifting priorities. According to a survey of student users of Handshake, a job search platform for college students, the share of 2023 graduates who say company brand is a factor in their job search dropped 10 percentage points between summer 2022 and spring 2023. Over the same period, those who prioritized a fast-growing company in their job search sank from 39% to 19%.
Handshake’s survey also shows that 36% of respondents said they are opening their job search to more industries, companies and roles while 71% said they’re willing to move to a different city for the right job.
What lessons can workers of all ages learn from this approach? Stability met with flexibility reign supreme. Prospective job candidates can gain much from seeking out companies that offer security while also remaining open about widening their job search.
Your Career, Your Choice
No matter how you feel about your current role or your future prospects, an experienced career consultant can help you chart your course with conviction.
20/20 Foresight Executive Marketing & Job Finding offers job seekers a dedicated career consulting team who knows your industry — and the companies where you want to work — inside and out. During a comprehensive one-on-one process, you’ll develop a powerful personal branding campaign, refine your resume, polish your online presence, and confidently improve your interviewing skills through plenty of practice so that you can enter your job search with assurance.