Mixed Signals on U.S. Worker Contentment

Happy at Work: Despite growing unrest about retirement and health care, American workers are content in their jobs. Or are they? It all depends on whose survey data one wants to believe. According to SnagAJob.com, a Richmond, Virginia-based job site, about 61 percent of Americans say they are “very happy” with the work they do. Married Hispanic workers living in the Western U.S. registered the highest satisfaction scores in SnagAJob’s “Labor Happiness Survey,” which included more than 1,000 respondents. The research seems to refute stereotypes that hourly positions are mostly menial or dead-end jobs, with 56 percent of hourly workers viewing their jobs as a full-time career. However, uncertainties about retirement and how to pay for their children’s education linger as chief concerns for nearly half of all employees surveyed.

On the other hand, Kronos Inc. says most workers are worse off than ever, prompting most to ratchet up job searches as 2008 approaches. The Chelmsford, Massachusetts-based HR software company says 62 percent of adult full-time workers are scouring the job market for better opportunities. Kronos says 61 percent have been burdened with heavier workloads, while only 44 percent were rewarded for the additional labor with pay raises. Adecco, a large staffing company in Melville, New York, recently found that most workers in general are happy with their employers, although nearly one-quarter of workers 65 or older say they feel underappreciated—nearly twice as many as those age 30 to 4