Many U.S. Employees Have Negative Attitudes To Their Jobs, Employers and Top Managers

The attitudes of many workers are not what some employers would like them to be. A new national survey conducted by Harris Interactive^® finds big differences in employee attitudes in large and small organizations. People who work in small organizations have much more positive attitudes toward their jobs, their employers and their top managers than people working for large employers. This survey also finds that younger workers have much more negative views of their jobs, their employers and their top managers than do older workers.

Perhaps the most disturbing conclusion that can be drawn from this research is how many employees dislike their jobs and do not have good feelings about their employers and senior managers. For example:

• While 59 percent of employees are satisfied with their jobs, that leaves two out of every five (41%) workers who are not.
• Fully one-third (33%) of workers feel that they are at a dead-end at their current jobs, and even more (42%) believe they are "trying to cope with feelings of burnout."
• Fewer than half (44%) of employees feel glad that they chose to work for their current employers over others.
• Only just over a third (37%) believe that their "top management displays integrity and morality."

These are a few of the findings of a nationwide online survey of 7,718 U.S. adults aged 18 and over who are employed at least 30 hours a week conducted between June 2 and 16, 2004 by Harris Interactive. The survey was conducted for the Concours Group, a management consulting, research and education firm, and Age Wave, founded by Ken Dychtwald, the nation’s leading authority on global aging and its social, economic and market implications.

In general, the smaller the company or other organization people work for, the more they like their jobs, their employers, and their top management. For example, people who work for organizations with fewer than 50 employees hold much more positive attitudes than people in organizations with 5,000 employees:

• 64 percent of people working for small employers are satisfied with their jobs compared to 54 percent in large companies.
• 38 percent of people working for large employers feel that they are at a dead-end at their current jobs, compared to only 24 percent of those working for small employers.
• Only 25 percent of people working for large employers feel that "this is the best organization to work for," compared to 43 percent of those working for small companies.
• Only 30 percent of employees at large organizations, compared to 48 percent of those working for small employers believe their top managers display integrity and morality.

Older employees are more likely than younger employees to have positive attitudes toward their work and their employers. A comparison of employees aged 18 to 34 and of those aged 55 and over finds a consistent pattern with older workers giving responses which are between 10 and 22 percentage points more positive. For example:

• 47 percent of younger workers but only 28 percent of older workers feel they are coping with feelings of burnout.
• 59 percent of older workers but only 37 percent of younger workers feel that a good deal of their pride comes from their work and careers.
• 64 percent of older workers but only 47 percent of younger workers "really care about the fate" of the organizations they work for.
• 48 percent of older workers compared to only 36 percent of younger workers believe their top managers display integrity and morality.

Base: Employed Adults* (n=7,718)

* Employed adults refer to U.S. adults aged 18 and over who are employed at least 30 hours a week.

** Includes those who agree strongly or moderately

Base: Employed Adults* (n=7,718)

* Employed adults aged 18 and older who are employed at least 30 hours a week.

** Includes those who agree strongly or moderately

The Harris Poll^® was conducted online within the United States between June 2 and 16, 2004 among a nationwide cross section of 7,718 adults (aged 18 and over) who are employed at least 30 hours per week. Figures for age, sex, race, education, and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a sampling error of plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. Unfortunately, there are several other possible sources of error in all polls or surveys that are probably more serious than theoretical calculations of sampling error. They include refusals to be interviewed (nonresponse), question wording and question order, and weighting. It is impossible to quantify the errors that may result from these factors. This online sample is not a probability sample.