Job satisfaction among U.S. workers hits three-decade high

U.S. workers are happier with their jobs than ever. The Conference Board’s Job Satisfaction 2023 report found improved satisfaction across nearly all 26 components, with gains in non-compensation factors such as work-life balance outpacing even those from improved pay and benefits.

“With unemployment at record lows, it’s a seller’s market for labor, and U.S. workers are reaping the rewards,” said Eren Selcuk, the organization’s senior economist. “Job satisfaction was up across the board in 2022, and especially high for workers who switched jobs.”

Selcuk goes on to add that 2023 will likely see a mild recession impact on labor shortages, but that  the impact will be “brief and minor,” adding that “demographic trends suggest tight labor markets are here to stay, putting the onus on employers to compete for talent.”

Overall, 62.3% U.S. workers were satisfied with their jobs in 2022, up from 60.2% in 2021. This is the highest level recorded since the survey began in 1987. Satisfaction now has surged for two consecutive years, rising 3.4 percentage points in 2021 and 2.1 percentage points in 2022.

These post-pandemic gains continue a long-term trend. Job satisfaction has been rising steadily for more than a decade after hitting an all-time low of 42.6% in 2010 following the Great Recession.

As in 2021, “commute to work” earned the highest marks for job satisfaction, with 67.7% of workers giving it high marks. Not surprisingly, workers who have switched jobs in the past year reported higher levels of job satisfaction.

This year’s survey was the first to ask about satisfaction with quality of leadership, organizational structure and mental health benefits. While the latter two earned middlingly passing marks, mental health benefits had a satisfaction rating of just 49.5%. The only components that ranked lower were education/job training programs (48.3%), bonus plan (47.0%) and promotion policy (44.9).

Among the other findings:

• Women are significantly less satisfied than men across almost all components surveyed, which means firms need to be more conscious and intentional about achieving pay equity and addressing gender gaps across numerous other factors of satisfaction.
• Employees with hybrid work arrangements report the greatest job satisfaction compared to fully remote or fully on-premises workers. Where possible, leaders should continue their support of hybrid work arrangements to keep job satisfaction high.
• Apart from competitive pay, the factors that most influence employee retention center around work experience and culture. These factors intersect with the top predictors of overall job satisfaction, suggesting that leaders should prioritize the cultural aspects of work to drive both employee retention and job satisfaction.

“With the labor market remaining tight for the foreseeable future, a focus on worker retention is that much more important,” said Allan Schweyer, principal researcher of human capital at The Conference Board.

“These results reveal that once workers are paid competitively, a strong workplace culture is the most important factor for keeping workers,” he added. “Leaders gain the most by offering flexible, hybrid work arrangements and emphasizing work experience and culture factors such as interesting work, reasonable workloads, and opportunities for career growth.”