These are some of the findings of the SnagAJob.com Labor Happiness Index, an annual labor study commissioned by the hourly job website, which includes 1,000 employed Americans randomly interviewed by telephone by third-party research firm Ipsos Public Affairs.
Thinking about short-term job security, 40 percent of working Americans say they are feeling more secure in their job than a year ago, a marked increase (11 points) over last year. Also good news, the number of Americans citing job insecurity has shrunk significantly to 35 percent, a group that was over 50 percent in last year’s study.
“Overall, employed Americans are breathing a bit easier at work because they’ve generally lost that sense that the other shoe is about to drop and they may be out of a job – assuming it hasn’t happened already,” said Shawn Boyer, CEO of SnagAJob.com. “However, some unease still exists because many Americans want to see more positive signs in the economy in order to be confident in a rebound.”
The economy still pressing
When it comes to the overall economy, which 58 percent of survey respondents say is the most pressing issue facing the country, the survey shows full confidence is lacking:
- One in 10 working Americans believes that the economy has turned the corner in the last year, a figure that has doubled from last year’s 4 percent.
- The majority (55%) says that the economy has stabilized but is yet to move in a truly positive direction.
- And another group is feeling more negative, with 32 percent still believing the worst is yet to come, although this group is slightly smaller than last year’s 36 percent.
Long-term job security in question, especially by males
- Nearly one in 10 workers (9%) listed fear of losing their job as their No. 1 long-term concern. That’s three times as many workers as the original 2007 survey (3%).
- Males, in particular, are concerned about their ability to keep their job in the future, a figure that jumped from 4 to 11 percent over the past four years. Similarly, “families and how they will be cared for” was selected as a No. 1 long-term concern by 24 percent of males in this year’s study, a jump of eight points in four years.
- Despite a growing concern about long-term job security, the overwhelming future concern for most working Americans is funding large expenses such as retirement or children’s college education, cited No. 1 by 38 percent of 2010 survey respondents.
The unemployed find new jobs
- Two in 10 Americans reported changing jobs in the last year, the same incidence rate as the previous survey.
- Of those who successfully changed jobs, 34 percent did so because they were laid off or dismissed from their prior company, and the next-largest group (31%) found a new job by choice.
In search of better jobs
- Three in 10 workers (30%) say they are thinking of proactively changing jobs in the near future (up three points).
- Workers ages 18-to-34 years old are more likely than their older counterpoints to make a job change (47%) versus one quarter (24%) of workers ages 35-to-54 years old.
Women happier at work than men
- Women (65%) are more likely than men (57%) to be happy in their current job.
- Those who say they feel less secure in their job than one year ago are less likely (46%) to say they’re happy in their current job.
- The leading factors contributing to workers’ happiness are personal satisfaction (27%), feeling fortunate to have a job at all (23%), job flexibility (17%) and the paycheck (15%).
