It’s a stereotype as old as time: People are dissatisfied with their jobs. In the past few years, we have seen the ‘great resignation’ and become more familiar with ‘quiet quitting.’ But is this narrative true? Do we all dislike our jobs? Or are we enjoying work? Perhaps you do like your job and simply feel like you are one of the lucky ones.
The idea that everyone dislikes their job is not necessarily rooted in fact. A study by journalist Derek Thompson found that workers are more satisfied than all of these stories would have you believe. And this trend of negative sentiment towards work is not new. Dating back to 2002 the GSS has found that more than 80% of workers are satisfied with their job.
So it begs the question of why we hear so much about people not liking their jobs. Perhaps it is the small vocal minority. And does this rhetoric we read and hear impact how we think about our jobs? University of Toronto Professor Scott Schieman decided to dig deeper into how much we actually enjoy our work.
In his study, he examined what respondents said about their own jobs and what they thought others would say about their jobs. In doing so, he found several perception glitches.
His first question, “All in all, how satisfied are you with your job?” was similar to Thompson’s research, with 79% of people saying they were satisfied. However, when asked if they think other Americans are satisfied with their jobs, only 49% said yes, which is a 30% gap.
His second question had a similar result. “How often do you find your work stressful?” Just 32% said they were highly stressed, but when asked about others, they responded that 69% were in stressful jobs, a 37% gap.
His third question on pay also had a large gap. “When you think about the pay you get for your work, do you feel you are underpaid, paid about right, or overpaid?” 67% of people felt underpaid, and 89% of most Americans felt underpaid, a 27% gap.
His fourth question focused on the relationship between employees and management. “In general, how would you describe relations in your workplace between management and employees?” 57% said it was quite good or very good. For other Americans, only 22% said they had it quite good or very good, a 35% gap.
His fifth and final question touched on the idea of quiet quitting. “How much effort do you put into your job beyond what is required?” 52% said they go above and beyond at work, but think only 13% of other Americans do the same, a 39% gap.
In reviewing the results, Schieman said, “They could also reflect a cognitive bias in which we pay attention to negative information about others, revealing our tendency toward individual optimism but social pessimism.” He goes on to note, “While the data doesn’t show that Americans overwhelmingly love their jobs or anything like that, they do suggest most people like them enough to hold on to them. Of course, this isn’t the end of the story. The data does show important differences depending on the type of job we’re talking about. For example, workers in the service sector were more dissatisfied with their jobs and much more likely to express an intent to quit than the average respondent.”
The key takeaway from these studies is not to believe everything you read. If you assume everyone else is unhappy and you’re just a lucky one, it can color your perception of your employer. And as the data shows, those perceptions are likely wrong.
Companies would be wise to institute their own employee surveys or other programs to solicit feedback. It will uncover any actual issues and help dispel the unhappiness myth.
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