Americans Are Dissatisfied With Their Jobs

(Jan. 5) -- Got a case of the Mondays? Too much work and not enough pay? You're not alone.

A survey released today by The Conference Board says that Americans are increasingly unhappy with their jobs. Forty-five percent of the 5,000 households surveyed say they are satisfied in their jobs, down from 61.1 percent in 1987, the first year the survey was conducted. This year's dissatisfaction is the worst recorded by the Conference Board and is down 4 percentage points from last year, The Associated Press reports.

"While one in 10 Americans is now unemployed, their working compatriots of all ages and incomes continue to grow increasingly unhappy," Lynn Franco, director of the Consumer Research Center of The Conference Board, said in a statement. "Through both economic boom and bust during the past two decades, our job satisfaction numbers have shown a consistent downward trend."

Workers are getting grumpier because they don't find their jobs interesting, their pay isn't keeping up with inflation, and the high costs of health care are taking a toll on their incomes, the AP reports.

The disgruntled work force could have graver consequences than simply forcing us to contend with cranky co-workers. Unhappy workers generally mean less productive workers.

"The downward trend in job satisfaction could spell trouble for the overall engagement of U.S. employees and ultimately employee productivity," Franco said.

The dissatisfaction was highest for people younger than 25, the youngest age bracket surveyed. Baby boomers had a drastic drop in their job satisfaction compared to 20 years ago, when 60 percent reported feeling satisfied with their work. Today, that number is at 46 percent.

With the boomer generation expected to make up one quarter of the work force in eight years, that unhappiness could translate to a significant drain on productivity.

And our national discontent does not stop at the workplace. The percentage of Americans who report experiencing a lot of stress and not a lot of happiness increased this year slightly compared to last year, from 11 percent in 2008 to 11.7 percent in 2009, according to the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index.

On top of that, we are less optimistic about life than we were 20 years ago, according to a USA Today/Gallup Poll conducted in December, which reported 63 percent saying they were optimistic about the next 20 years as opposed to nearly 80 percent reporting optimism in the early 1990s.

But if your glass is half full, those 63 percent optimists beat out the 34 percent pessimists.