I received a phone call this last week from a reporter that calls me occasionally when he’s working on a story line. He had been given the assignment of writing an article about job satisfaction being at an all time low. He wanted to know what I am hearing and seeing about job satisfaction.

According to a summary of the results of a recently released survey, only 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with their work. This is the lowest level ever recorded by the Conference Board research group in the 22 years of research about levels of job satisfaction. In 2008, 49 percent of the people surveyed reported satisfaction with their jobs.  This means there has been a 4 percent drop in satisfaction this last year.

The report finds employees younger than 25 with the lowest levels of satisfaction. About 64 percent of them were unhappy with their jobs. Younger workers seem to have fewer opportunitites now and lower wages.

The most satisfied employees were in the age range of 25 to 34. About 53 percent were unhappy with their job. Perhaps this group sees some opportunities for advancement as baby boomers begin to retire.

The Conference Board report found employee unhappiness for the following reasons:

• Fewer employees consider their jobs interesting.
• Incomes have not kept up with inflation.
• The soaring cost of health insurance has eroded employees’ pay checks.

Economists are worried that this dissatisfaction trend could decrease innovation and hurt America’s competitiveness and productivity.  It also could decrease employees willingness to share their knowledge and skills with each other. 

Some employees are just sitting this out and not engaging in what they are doing. Yet, we know from research on happiness that engagement is an important way to feel fulfilled and satisfied. I see many  people who are waiting for the economy to improve. When that happens, they plan to leave their job for something more interesting.

Downsizing takes a toll on morale. Emotions are contagious. This is an important time for companies and organizations to improve communication and be honest with people. Keeping the environment positive is important.

Empolyees are also responsible for determining what they should be doing to be the most engaged and productive at work. They can take steps to be realistic yet have a positive outlook in the work setting as they find things to be grateful for.

Fortunately, there are companies out there that are trying to do something about increasing their employees satisfaction with work. I hope you are lucky enough to be working for one of these companies. They see this as a time to offer training that would be meaningful to employees. They look for other ways to give incentives and build morale.

What do you think needs to be done to increase employees satisfaction and engagement? What path needs to be taken to make it happen?

Leave your comment below.

To your success,

Maurine