There's about a 25 percent chance you or someone you know will be working this Thursday when the rest of the U.S. is tucking into a turkey feast. But apparently even those who have to work the big American holidays are pretty happy with their jobs and their lives, according the "Heartland" poll conducted by Allstate and the National Journal.
The poll found that 87 percent of respondents said they were living a good life, and more than half said it was not necessary to be wealthy in order to enjoy a good life. A good job was much more central to this sense of well-being: 97 percent said making enough money to live comfortably was necessary to the good life, as was providing financial security for one's family (94 percent), having a job that permitted work-life balance (94 percent), and being successful at work and being recognized as successful (76 percent).
Of those surveyed, job satisfaction was quite high: 58 percent said they were very satisfied with their work, and another 34 percent said they were somewhat satisfied. Nearly 100 percent have enjoyed success on the job; 65 percent felt very successful at work, and 33 percent said they were somewhat successful.
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Asked to point to factors they used to define success on the job, their pay barely came in No. 4 in the voting. Here's the Top 5 reasons cited:
- Making a positive impact: 29 percent cited this as a key factor to feeling successful at work;
- Doing what you love: 25 percent;
- Good work-life balance: 13 percent;
- Pay: 11 percent;
- Job security: 10 percent.
The most satisfied with their work situations were bosses: business owners (68 percent very satisfied), and those at the executive level (64 percent very satisfied) led the pack.
But workers recognize that sacrifices are required even by jobs they love. For instance, 24 percent said they would very likely be working at least one major holiday a year, and more than half (55 percent) said they had no say in the scheduling.
"Despite overall satisfaction and pride in their jobs, Americans report making significant personal sacrifices to make ends meet while balancing work responsibilities with family commitments. Amid these pressures from work, Americans are looking for more flexibility and more personal time in their employer and would sacrifice pay to have a job that offered more flexibility," the study said.
Among the sacrifices: work has crept increasingly into their "personal" time, as 81 percent said they are required to be reachable outside of their prescribed hours of work. "More than half (56 percent) of American workers checked email or otherwise checked in with work on their last vacation," the study said. "With these challenges, Americans are looking for more flexibility and more personal time, and most say they would choose a job with less pay to obtain that. If given the choice between jobs based on the balance between work and personal/family time, two in three (67 percent) Americans would choose 'more flexibility and shorter hours…but less pay' while just one-in-four (26 percent) would choose more pay…but less flexibility and longer hours."
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Dan Cook
Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.
