Unemployment is near a historic low, employee job satisfaction is at a 20+ year high, and workers are more engaged than they've been in decades.
But there's room for improvement. Many employees don't feel they are getting workplace mentorship, and some companies lack career development programs and opportunities to work your way up the ladder.
We reviewed the latest research on job satisfaction to better understand what's happening here and found three takeaways that can help you land the job you want. They are:
With a strong economy and bustling job market, the employer-employee relationship is starting 2020 off in a good place …
Sixty-eight percent of workers say they're satisfied with their job (up from 61 percent in 2018). Jobvite
The great majority of employees (80 percent) are looking for a new job or at least open to opportunities. Ajilon
Turnover hit 19.3 percent in 2018, up 3.5 percentage points since 2014. Salary.com
Forty-five percent say they're just somewhat satisfied. Morning Consult
Intriguingly, the bottom five benefits, which have ranked very low for several years running, are related to employee performance and professional growth, suggesting that employers should invest more in professional development and career advancement.
Here are the five most important drivers of satisfaction:
This shows why workers are only partially satisfied. Employers fall short in areas related to the core of job satisfaction.
The number of highly engaged workers — those who are "involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace" — is at 34 percent, tied for the highest it's been since Gallup began collecting the figure in 2000. Gallup
New employees experiment with their professional identity and model their behavior on superiors in the workplace, one study found. Signs of respect can play a role in that professional development. Administrative Science Quarterly
Employees who get respect from their leaders report:
Eighty percent of employees treated uncivilly spend a lot of work hours ruminating over the behavior, while 48 percent intentionally reduce their efforts. (Harvard Business Review)
For example, workers in high-income families are more likely to enjoy their jobs:
And people in management positions are more satisfied than people in occupations that have less agency:
Plus, job satisfaction increases slightly as you get more education (according to workers aged 30 to 45 years):
Seventy-two percent of employees say more benefits would increase job satisfaction. Zoro
Employees who rate their boss poorly are four times more likely to be looking for another job. TINYpulse
When forced to choose between a higher salary and more benefits, employees choose salary:
Praise from their direct manager (67 percent), attention from leaders (63 percent) and opportunities to lead projects (62 percent) all outrank monetary incentives in increasing employee engagement. McKinsey
Most Americans (60 percent) say they would slash their salary in half if it meant they'd love their job. Lexington Law
Fifty-two percent of part-time employees say their work is "just a job to get them by." Just 24 percent of full-time employees say the same. Pew Social Trends
In 2010, researchers found that workers who find meaning in their jobs had increased:
They also experienced less:
Everyone wants to enjoy their job. The stats above will help you figure out what you need and want in the workplace. Read more in our 2020 employment stats series to get a leg up:
Don is a freelance writer with more than five years' experience in digital media. His work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Oprah.com, Yahoo! and HuffPost. While at OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, his creative use of archival content...
More Articles by Donald Sjoerdsma