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      Even Americans who are lucky enough to have work in this economy
are becoming more unhappy with their jobs, according to a new
survey that found only 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with
their work.

      That was the lowest level ever recorded by the Conference Board
research group in more than 22 years of studying the issue. In
2008, 49 percent of those surveyed reported satisfaction with their
jobs.


      The drop in workers' happiness can be partly blamed on the worst
recession since the 1930s, which made it difficult for some people
to find challenging and suitable jobs. But worker dissatisfaction
has been on the rise for more than two decades.


      "It says something troubling about work in America. It is not
about the business cycle or one grumpy generation," says Linda
Barrington, managing director of human capital at the Conference
Board, who helped write the report, which was released Tuesday.


      Workers have grown steadily more unhappy for a variety of
reasons:

      - Fewer workers consider their jobs to be interesting.


      - Incomes have not kept up with inflation.


      - The soaring cost of health insurance has eaten into workers'
take-home pay.


      If the job satisfaction trend is not reversed, economists say,
it could stifle innovation and hurt America's competitiveness and
productivity. And it could make unhappy older workers less inclined
to take the time to share their knowledge and skills with younger
workers.


      Nate Carrasco, 26, of Odessa, Texas, says he's been pretty
unhappy in most of his jobs, including his current one at an auto
parts store.


      "There is no sense of teamwork in most places any more,"
Carrasco gripes.


      When the Conference Board's first survey was conducted in 1987,
most workers - 61 percent - said they were happy in their jobs. The
survey of 5,000 households was conducted for the Conference Board
by TNS, a global market research company.


      One clue that may explain workers' growing dissatisfaction: Only
51 percent now find their jobs interesting - another low in the
survey's 22 years. In 1987, nearly 70 percent said they were
interested in their work.


      Workers who find their jobs interesting are more likely to be
innovative and to take the calculated risks and the initiative that
drive productivity and contribute to economic growth, Barrington
says.


      "What's really disturbing about growing job dissatisfaction is
the way it can play into the competitive nature of the U.S. work
force down the road, and on the growth of the U.S. economy - all in
a negative way," says Lynn Franco, another author of the report
and director of the Conference Board's Consumer Research Center.


      Conference Board officials and outside economists suggested that
weak wage growth helps explain why workers' unhappiness has been
rising for more than 20 years. After growing in the 1980s and
1990s, average household incomes adjusted for inflation have been
shrinking since 2000.


      Also, compared with 1980, three times as many workers contribute
to the cost of their health insurance - and those contributions
have gone up. The average employee contribution for single-coverage
medical care benefits rose from $48 a month to $76 a month between
1999 and 2006.


      Workers under 25 expressed the highest level of dissatisfaction.
Roughly 64 percent of workers under 25 say they were unhappy in
their jobs. The recession has been especially hard on young
workers, who face fewer opportunities now and lower wages, some
analysts say.


      The most satisfied were those ages 25 to 34, who may see some
opportunities for upward mobility as baby boomers retire. Around 47
percent of workers 25 to 34 say they were happy in their jobs.


      Some other key findings of the survey:


      - Forty-three percent of workers feel secure in their jobs. In
2008, 47 percent said they feel secure in their jobs, while 59
percent felt that way in 1987.


      - Fifty-six percent say they like their co-workers, slightly
less than the 57 percent who said so last year but down from 68
percent in 1987.


      - Fifty-six percent say they are satisfied with their commute to
work even as commute times have grown longer over the years. That
compares with 54 percent in 2008 and 63 percent in 1987.


      - Fifty-one percent say they are satisfied with their boss.
That's down from 55 percent in 2008 and around 60 percent two
decades ago.


      Carrasco said he wishes his bosses would take time to listen to
workers' ideas - and their difficulties on the job.


      "Most of the time they only listen to what their bosses are
saying," he says. "Bosses need to come down to the employee level
more and see what actually goes on, versus what their paperwork
tells them is happening in the stores."


      It wouldn't be fair to blame low job satisfaction solely on bad
bosses, Barrington says.


      "It is two-way responsibility," she says. "Workers also have
to figure out what they should be doing to be the most engaged in
their jobs and the most productive."

Gallery

Even Americans who are lucky enough to have work in this economy
are becoming more unhappy with their jobs, according to a new
survey that found only 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with
their work.

Americans' job satisfaction falls to record low

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