I'm fortunate to have a job right now. Are you? If so, how are you feeling about it?
I guess a lot of Americans who are lucky enough to be employed right now, in the worst economy since the Great Depression of the 1930s, aren't feeling so great about it. This is according to a survey by the Conference Board research group, as reported by the Associated Press.
This survey says that only 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with their work, and that this is "the lowest level ever recorded" by the resesearch group in more than 22 years of studying the issue. In 2008, 49 percent of those surveyed reported satisfaction with their jobs.
The Great Recession is partly responsible, researchers believe, because it has made it difficult for people to find challenging and suitable jobs. Besides having jobs that might be pretty boring, American workers are also dissatisfied because incomes have not kept up with inflation, and soaring health care costs are eating into take-home pay, the story says.
I know. I know. Those of you who have been out of work for a few months or longer are thinking that us horde of employed should quit griping.
But maybe there is something to this overall decline in job dissatisfaction, something that speaks to a general lack of confidence and fear about our individual and national future.
You know, I hear this dissatisfaction expressed among those who have hung onto jobs. These workers toil at companies hit by layoffs, pay cuts or furloughs. Their workplaces are in survival mode, playing it safe, without any shared sense of anything beyond survival.
With individual and organizational horizons becoming limited by a fear of dimming prospects, a workplace culture can become depressing, demoralizing.
Again, I know it might not be fair to gripe if you are employed. People who have been laid off are worried about keeping their unemployment benefits, paying for health care. Oh, they've also got to buy food, pay for rent or a mortgage, car insurance, and whatever continuing costs of basic living come their way...
Signing their kids up for soccer... Getting new tires for the car ...
Just so you know, while I still have my job right now, I have also been through a lay-off and dealt with unemployment and keeping up with Cobra payments to maintain our family's health insurance. We went a month without health insurance... a gap ... and it scared me the entire time...
5 comments:
I actually think many of the employed folks are feeling shared sadness at the loss of their fellow coworkers' jobs. There must be some emotional attachment to our workplace colleages. Seeing friends and coworkers struggle makes it difficult to remain upbeat through it all. I think that is why I try to help with the food projects.
I've been without work, without healthcare, and struggling too. Looking for a bright spot out there.
My employer has been through a few rounds of layoffs in the last couple of years and an annual week of unpaid furlough, but overall, I think they've been very good about spreading the pain around in an equitable way, while also doing some other cost-cutting that seems very fair, logical and less painful.
It's trying to work with a reduced staff, but at this point, with the economy the way it is, I'm really grateful to have the job of my choice, and to have the help I do still have at work. I definitely find myself griping less than I did in the old days, and I think I and my colleagues are more willing to work extra-hard, whether out of teamwork or a sense of wanting to hang on to what we have, and get past this rough period. Still, it's very humbling to realize that any one of us could be laid off at a moment's notice. Anyone who ever believed in job security now realizes that was always an illusion for most workers in any business; the recession just makes that realization harder to ignore.
You will never be happy in a job unless you are truly passionate about it. That is the key is finding passion every day!
I agree with Anna, even those of us blessed to have jobs are feeling the stress of having our colleagues laid off and wondering if more rounds are coming. In addition, I am blessed to not have to manage, but having to be the one to deliver that news to hard working people and knowing the impact it has on their lives and careers is devastating as well. And lets face it, not many people are being compensated for the extra work...
I am retired but fortunate to have a part-time position in retail. Pays squat, but gives me chance to earn enough to help pay bills. However, just about every John Q. Public who is fortunate enough to have a job these days will tell you that they have not received a bonus, raise, cost of living increase or company match to their 4001(k) contributions in the last 12 - 18 months. These ommissions are making it hard for many to feel the same degree of satisfaction and loyalty that they felt before. There is no recognized reward from the company for putting in the extra effort.
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