Nearly One In Three U.S. Workers Considering Leaving Their Jobs: Report

Dissatisfied workers are less alone than they were six years ago, a new report finds.

In 2010, nearly one in three of surveyed U.S. workers, or 32 percent, said that they were seriously considering leaving their jobs. Compare that to 2005, when 23 percent expressed that level of dissatisfaction, according to the report by Mercer LLC. The report also found fewer feelings of commitment, accomplishment and pride within the workplace.

The cause of the spike in dissatisfaction, the report states, is that employees increasingly feel their career expectations are not being attained, whether in terms of benefits or advancement.

"From the employee viewpoint, not only has the deal been redefined, in many cases, the new deal is not being delivered as promised," the report said.

Wages, particularly, have been a source of disappointment, When adjusted for inflation, the average American is making $400 less than he or she was making in 1988.

Worker dissatisfaction is particularly concentrated among younger employees, reports Bloomberg News. A full 40 percent of employees aged 25-34, and 44 percent of employees aged 24 and younger, said that they are seriously considering leaving their job. That level of dissatisfaction declines deep into middle age.

But despite higher levels of dissatisfaction, few employees are willing to voluntarily leave their jobs, according to the Wall Street Journal. Blame that on the economy, as only 1.4 percent of employees voluntarily left their jobs in April, the lowest level since voluntary turnover began to be measured by the Department of Labor in 2000.

Employee satisfaction, particularly in an increasingly service-based economy, is essential for a firm's success, according to an article published in the Harvard Business Review. "Employee satisfaction," the article states, "results primarily from high-quality support services and policies that enable employees to deliver results to customers."

The below graph by Mercer compares job satisfaction by age-group:

Comments

[BarryS]

07:31 AM on 06/23/2011

They treat you like s... Or at least like a criminal. They they think anyone can do your job better than you. They give top management all the perks and gains of efficiencies. Small wonder. Maybe one day "they" will do the work too.

[Tony Wang]

05:01 AM on 06/23/2011

This should be a warning to employers. Yes, right now, because the economy is weak, people are staying with you. But when things pick up -- as they always do -- they will leave you in a heartbeat.

So many companies have HR departments that say "our employees are our most important assets." Very few of them actually act that way. Look at the companies people want to work for. They do things way above what's required, they've got things like daycare on site, free lunches, free dry cleaning, and so on.

And then you have the companies that jack up copays, combine sick leave and annual leave and say oh, but it's a benefit to you, and so on.

Who do you think people will want to work for when the economy picks up? And then, the companies that shaft their employees will be stuck with low performers who can't find a job anywhere else.

[Mr Hankey]

08:32 PM on 06/22/2011

I don't believe this report!

Are workers dissatisfied in general? - yes, I'm sure the majority are....but unless they have a safe place to jump to, no one is stup!d enough to quit now.

There are plenty of unemployed just waiting for an opening.

[skymuffin]

04:31 PM on 06/22/2011

The best time to look for a job is when you have one. So, if you see better opportunities elsewhere, go for it. Everyone is getting pushed to the limit and companies want to see what they can get away with.

[nopilikia]

01:03 AM on 06/23/2011

Sound advice.

[European1919]

08:42 AM on 06/22/2011

Leaving your job is always a grand idea, especially when the economy isn't looking good and unemployment figures are far from friendly.

[dsweet1171]

12:49 PM on 06/22/2011

http://www.manufacturing.net/News-Recession-Boosts-GenXers-Discontent-111609.aspx

Interesting article...

[Patriot86]

08:24 AM on 06/22/2011

Yes, but discontented workers always cost business.

[JustinP213]

08:01 AM on 06/22/2011

I would counsel people against leaving their jobs if they make over 25 dollars an hour and have health benefits.

[Kode]

05:53 PM on 06/22/2011

Why? Do you have to make 6 figures to leave your job?

[cyeko]

06:20 AM on 06/22/2011

Thanks to conservative hate speech, and intimidation against workers...Employers have grown even more greedy with power.

For the 2nd year in a row of not getting a raise, we have been told that a Job is a Privilege and if we don't like it, there is the door.

This is where GOP policies are taking us.

[JustinP213]

08:06 AM on 06/22/2011

Didn't get a raise for two years? Poor you.

[mtrem]

12:30 PM on 06/22/2011

When you look at the pay escalation at the top, well, yea!!!

[cyeko]

07:31 PM on 06/22/2011

You missed the point...geez.

[mashtoe]

05:18 AM on 06/22/2011

Also keep in mind that your w-2 wages get taxes at 30% (mine are over that) and yet people on Wall Street get a special tax rate for their primary income and only pay 15%.

Think about that. Work is taxed at twice the rate of investing. Not only do the rich lobby congress constantly for work visas and free trade deals with slave labor in communist China bit they also got themselves a special tax rate half of working people's. So they get more from our government and pay half! It's awesome to be on Wall Street. Especially the bailouts. Next time someone brings up the "free markets" just remind them we are a state capitalist society where the big guys are NEVER allowed to fail.

[fusillijerry]

01:57 PM on 06/22/2011

Warren Buffet uses the example of his secretary, who pays a larger percentage of his/her income than Buffett himself.

Although, my guess is that Buffett's secretary makes more than the average bear.

[Tony Wang]

05:04 AM on 06/23/2011

I think Buffett pays himself a salary of around a million. To most of us, that is a lot of money, but assuming that his secretary gets $50K a year, that's around 20 times what she makes. And that is hardly outrageous. In fact, that's less than what CEOs used to make back in when things were far more in favor of the middle class than they are now. They used to make around 40 times what their average employee made. Now, it's what, around 500 times what their average employee makes?

[Rochelle MacDonald]

02:41 AM on 06/22/2011

Apparently it hasn't gotten bad enough for workers to organize and demand better treatment from their employers. We'll get there but it is still many years off. Until then, people will accept poor treatment and probably blame themselves for it, too.

[mashtoe]

05:00 AM on 06/22/2011

Exactly, American workers expect abuse.

[Joseph LeCompte]

01:51 AM on 06/22/2011

Be careful that means there is a 33% chance the new job will be just as bad

[dtallwalk]

11:26 PM on 06/21/2011

Some of the people I know work in the service-based job’s if these company
Are looking to have better Employee satisfaction I say let’s start with the hat’s and
Vests and bluing that they are made to wirer to promote some corp.
Image of a prefect please to work. And serve the customer
When we all know the customer can be a pain
Because they think they are more important the you
It’s degrading and. And the good thing it drives the worker to
To go to school and get out of those pleases if the ones who think they are so
Important and Want clean towels they can wash them themselves
and they wonder why.

[Sassydays]

09:52 PM on 06/21/2011

After weathering a 6mo layoff in 2009, my hubby (I stay at home with kid) has no choice but to accept the "were under a pay freeze" bull, whilst simultaneously replacing a crew of 5 with a crew of 2 and accepting additional responsibilities on a daily basis. It's so obvious that traditional routes of employment and security are a thing of the past, now if we could just think of a way to make tons of cash, it's just not that easy! Sigh...

[Kai-HK]

12:11 AM on 06/22/2011

He can always quit. He is the rightful owner of his labor, despite how little it is worth. He is paid what that labor is worth, determined through free markets and free exchange, nothing more.

[mashtoe]

05:06 AM on 06/22/2011

It's not a free market as long as we have federal interference in the form of work visas, free trade with communist China, and corporate welfare!

[Patriot86]

08:26 AM on 06/22/2011

rightwing BS...there is nothing free market about our system...nothing...because in a free market when labor was scarce..wages would rise...not H1B visas.

[Mondayboy]

12:25 PM on 06/22/2011

Play the lottery :)

[FoxIslander]

12:59 PM on 06/22/2011

...kinda what the "American dream" has become.

[pup sydney]

09:47 PM on 06/21/2011

Oh come on Johnny stop complaining ! you voted for republicans and your real job is in China what you do here in the USA is just rearranging chairs. Our real worker is in , if you do not stop you are gone before this byte gets into the web

[MyResponsibility]

09:23 PM on 06/21/2011

Leave your job. Plenty of unemployed workers would LOVE to do your job to make an income again. Work is pain, people.

[mashtoe]

05:12 AM on 06/22/2011

If that is your attitude "work is pain" then you will get that. You have the mindset of a slave. You devalue your labor so it's devalued.

Do you think CEOs think that way? No, they run to the government constantly demanding corporate welfare, bailouts, special rules just for them, special protections, etc.

Do you think copyright protections are cheap? No. Do you think protecting "our economic interests" around the world has anything to do with your job? No. It's all for a few billionaires on Wall Street.

[MyResponsibility]

01:12 PM on 06/22/2011

I would have LOVED to have gotten a pro Hockey contract - to play a sport for money.  But even those individuals endure pain in their job - physical pain from injury, travel time away from loved ones, stress of maintaining prowess to keep job.  

A job is that which we do for money that we otherwise would NOT do for free.  I value my labor immensely. As such, my income has grown, as has my responsibility.  I have to commute an hour to an hour and half each way to work.  To get maximum time with my family, I do not go to bed early, nor can I sleep in to satisfy my body's desire for sleep - for WORK, the desire to earn MONEY, to buy things that sustain life for me and my family, drives me to awake at 4:30 AM.  

Instead of strolling out of bed when I've slept as much as I want and heading to the beach (NOT pain), I head to the office.  I don't punch a clock, but my keeping my job requires that I perform at a high level, and make money for my employer.  I can come in when I want, leave when I want, but I must PERFORM. This is pain.  It's called LABOR.

Yes, I do believe CEOs think that way.  The vast majority of CEO's are owners of small businesses, of which I've been one.  Sweating bullets that my customers payments will arrive so I can make payroll to those who worked so hard to keep my business running.  To forgo paying myself so I can keep the business running.  You think CEO's merely sit in their office full of mahogany and leather bound books and just bark demands at their direct reports.  You have no idea what a CEO does. I do think that the CEO's of major publicly-traded corporations earn a bit more than they should, but that is an issue between the CEO and its shareholders.  MOST CEO's get no handouts, most receive no corporate welfare (whatever that is), MOST don't receive bailouts or special rules/protections.  The owner of the floral shop, the owner of the three dry cleaners, the owner of the barber shop, the owner of the oil change place, the owner of your local restaurant, the owner of your lawn chemical company, pest control, all CEO's, none receive what you say.

I believe that GM/Chrysler should not have been bailed out.  But most on the left would not agree  with me.  I don't think the government should be in the business of bailing out, financially supporting, subsidizing ANY private business - no company is too big to fail.

[Patriot86]

08:27 AM on 06/22/2011

You are a fo_ol willing to exist on crumb and be a bo_ot licker.

[MyResponsibility]

10:35 AM on 06/22/2011

I'm no fool. I'm a realist.  And I don't exist on crumbs, either.  I'm thankful every day that I have an employer that is willing to exploit my talents for their gain, as said exploitation puts money in my bank account. That money provides the buying power for me to feed my family, put gas in my car, put a roof over my head, and clothes on our backs.  Without an employer, I'd have to till my own soil, hunt for my meat, build my own shelter, and sew my own clothes.  I pick working for money over that any day of the week.