Less Than Half of Americans Have Job Satisfaction

The percent of Americans who are satisfied with their jobs reached a new low to less than 50%. This is a decline from from 61% satisfaction when the survey was first done 20 years ago. Job satisfaction was lowest among workers under 25 at 39%. For more details, see Americans hate their jobs more than ever.

Here are my thoughts on the causes for dissatisfaction:

We think we should love our jobs. The current wisdom is that we should love what we do that our career defines our life, and that we should not settle for anything less. The reality is our job is a job and there is a reason it's called "work." If work was fun, we wouldn't need to be paid to do it:-)

Standards and expectations increase every year. Every year, each employee is expected to think smarter, work harder, and have greater impact on the business. Actually, companies don't explicitly ask for more. They call it a "productivity" improvement target.

Stress is increasing. Demands from work, home and personal change/growth are constant and increasing. It is difficult to achieve a work-life balance, which I contend are actually work-life choices. Less personal control results in more stress.

It's not surprising people are not satisfied as much as in the past.

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This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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