76% of workers say they do more than is expected of them—but are unhappy with their pay and lack of remote work

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/10/half-of-workers-are-happy-with-their-jobsbut-want-better-pay-more-flexibility.html

by cnbc_official

5 comments

  1. Half of all employed adults say they’re extremely or very satisfied with their jobs, according to a [new report from Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2024/12/10/most-americans-feel-good-about-their-job-security-but-not-their-pay/), which surveyed more than 5,200 people in October.

    Another 38% report feeling somewhat satisfied, while just 12% say they’re not satisfied.

    But some workers are more likely to be happy than others.

    People who are 50 and older, earn an a middle- to upper-income or are self-employed report feeling happier than the average worker.

    Among those who don’t work for themselves, people are happiest with their relationship with their co-workers, their relationship with their manager, and their commute (among workers who have one).

    But a few sore points stick out: A whopping 40% of workers say they’re not satisfied with their flexibility to work remotely. Several Fortune 500 companies including Amazon, Citigroup, Walmart and UPS made fresh announcements this year to scale back remote flexibility and require workers to spend more time in offices. The moves have led business experts and workers[ to question the future](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/18/amazon-rto-mandate-workers-must-come-back-5-days-a-week.html) of [remote and hybrid work](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/24/despite-more-return-to-office-mandates-hybrid-and-remote-arent-dying.html).

    Close behind is the share of people who are dissatisfied with their opportunities to be promoted at work (38%).

    Salary is the No. 3 biggest factor where workers [say they’re unhappy](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/27/harvard-career-advisor-use-this-script-to-ask-for-fair-pay.html). Their biggest concerns are that their pay hasn’t kept pace with the [cost of living](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/03/states-highest-living-cost-realtor-com.html) (80%), they’re being underpaid for the quality (71%) or amount (70%) of work they do, they don’t earn enough to pay their bills (54%) or they’re paid less than a coworker who does similar work (28%).

    Overall, workers are less happy with their work today than in 2023: On seven of the nine items Pew surveyed last year, the share of people who said they were highly satisfied dropped by 3 to 7 percentage points.

    For example, while 44% of workers say they were happy with their opportunities for training and development in February 2023, just 37% felt the same way by October 2024.

    More: [https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/10/half-of-workers-are-happy-with-their-jobsbut-want-better-pay-more-flexibility.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/12/10/half-of-workers-are-happy-with-their-jobsbut-want-better-pay-more-flexibility.html)

  2. Any corporate employee can work remotely. This was proven during COVID. People are tired of being lied to by employers that say being back in the office is better for collaboration. Hybrid should be the focal point with more time remote than in office. The issue is about trust, high level managers and executives think that people are spending their work time goofing off. Its far from the truth, people go above and beyond and are getting sick of not getting credit for it.

  4. If you are worth more then find a better paying job and prove it.

  5. Remote work and extra work can be fixed with a labor union.

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