Digging Into The Details: What American Workers Really Think About Their Jobs

The American workplace has changed considerably over the past several years. COVID-19 ushered in a work-from-home revolution and helped shift some of the power away from bosses.

This gave employees more freedom to request higher pay and better benefits from their current employers since they could probably find a job somewhere else that would meet their requirements.

But that doesn’t mean everything is great for those in the U.S. workforce … and a new Pew Research poll surveyed just under 6,000 workers to determine how they feel about various aspects of the current work environment.

The good, bad, and ugly

On a general level, just over half of those surveyed (51%) say they are satisfied with their job. When broken down into specifics, however, it’s obvious that some areas of work are more satisfying than others.

At the top of the list, more than two-thirds of respondents expressed satisfaction in their relationships with colleagues. On the other end of the spectrum, only one-third said they were satisfied with their opportunities for promotion.

Here are some other key takeaways:

• 59% of respondents who travel to work were satisfied with their commute.
• Just 34% said their pay rate is satisfactory.
• Employer benefits and feedback each received approval from 49% of respondents.
• 62% of workers approved of their relationship with their supervisors.

The demographic impact

While the poll offered an overview of the workforce, it’s important to recognize differences in results based on factors like age and income.

For example, older workers were significantly more likely than their younger counterparts to express high levels of satisfaction with their jobs.

Additionally, those who bring home higher incomes were much more satisfied with their jobs (specifically benefits, promotion opportunities, and belief that their input is valued) than those in middle- and lower-income categories.

Chris Agee April 27th, 2023

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