Generations of employees are more or less dissatisfied with their jobs, study finds

Several new trends with catchy names have gone viral in the wake of the pandemic that suggest people may be fed up at work. These include ‘quiet quitting’ – the idea of putting forth the least amount of work possible to keep one’s job; ‘bare minimum Mondays’ – in which employees ease into the week by focusing on wellbeing rather than work; and ‘lazy girl jobs’ – a flexible, high-paying job that requires little effort.

Of course, the Great Resignation has been a term felt deeply by companies struggling to recruit and retain employees amid a culture of burnout in the workforce during the past 3 years. A recent Forbes Advisor report on workplace trends by generation discovered relatively low overall job satisfaction across generations. Millennials were most dissatisfied, reporting job satisfaction of 4.6 on a scale of 10, and their younger counterparts in Gen Z were only slightly higher at 5.2. Baby boomers rated their job satisfaction at 5.6 and Gen X were the happiest at work, rating their job satisfaction at 6.6 out of 10.

Less than 20% of all workers across generations rated their job satisfaction above 8 on a scale of 10. Furthermore, 36% of employees said they experience stress at work, 34% said they feel underappreciated, 26% grapple with anxiety and 20% report burnout, the report said.

What might make them happier at work?

According to the survey, 79% of employees across generations want flexible work options. Flexible paid time off and vacation benefits were highly valued by all generations, especially millennials and baby boomers, while Gen Z  placed a high priority on flexible parental leave options. Younger workers also were more interested in upskilling opportunities, DEI programs, and team recognition programs than their older counterparts. 

All generations also were interested in mental health resources, led by Gen X and millennials, according to the report. Forbes Advisor found insurance coverage for mental health services ranked as the most important mental health benefit employers can provide to all generations except for baby boomers, who indicated they place a higher value on having dedicated office spaces reserved for mental health processing.

For career growth, employees across generations are interested in access to learning management systems and companywide training from other departments and least interested in mentoring, shadowing and cross-functional learning opportunities. 

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Among all generations, workers believe their employers are committed to a people-first culture and work-life balance initiatives. Younger workers, especially Gen Z, said their employer prioritizes pay equity more and team feedback and goal setting less, while older workers think their employer prioritizes promoting talent more and diversity, equity and inclusion programs less. Across the board, employees ranked team recognition programs as the initiative their employers are least committed to.