There’s a vast gap in how happy workers are in their jobs between the oldest and youngest generations.
While 57.4% of US workers under 25 report being satisfied with their jobs, that doesn’t hold a candle to the 72.4% of those 55 and older who do, according to a report from The Conference Board.
While the disparity between older and younger workers is notable, the sheer number of those who say “I love my job” is pretty stunning.
Across the board, job satisfaction jumped 5.7 percentage points — the largest single-year gain in the survey’s 38-year history.
“I’m surprised by the sharp jump in overall job satisfaction and maybe more surprised that we saw significant increases across the individual elements of job satisfaction,” Allan Schweyer, a principal researcher at The Conference Board, told Yahoo Finance.
The survey measures a range of factors, including compensation, retirement and pension plans, sense of belonging, engagement, mental health, performance feedback, workload, hybrid flexibility, quality of leadership, and growth opportunities.
The elements that make the most difference when it comes to loving your job are interest in work, followed closely by quality of leadership, organizational culture, workload, and workers’ relationships with their supervisors.
He said those factors mattered more to people than the value they placed on wages, bonuses, health insurance, and vacation pay.
Gains were particularly strong for women workers, increasing by more than 8 percentage points. Women, though, continue to be less satisfied than men with their wages, bonus plans, and pension and retirement plans.
Workers who earn six-figure salaries are somewhat more satisfied than those earning less. And workers in hybrid work arrangements are consistently more satisfied and likely to stay.
Let’s turn back to the older vs. younger disconnect.
There are some underlying reasons for the difference in opinion. For starters — although who doesn’t value manageable workloads and meaningful work — late-career employees prioritize these elements of a job at higher levels than younger colleagues, according to the researchers.
But it goes deeper. “In general, the older workers we work with are more hopeful, more determined, less frustrated,” Gwenn Rosener, partner and co-founder of FlexProfessionals, a recruiting and staffing firm for the Boston and Washington, D.C., areas, told Yahoo Finance.
“After years of navigating good and bad bosses, jobs, and economies, they are pretty realistic, resilient, and more satisfied,” she said. “They have more tempered expectations about what a job should provide. They’re not chasing the weighty ideal of changing the world like many in the younger generations. They want to contribute, feel valued, and enjoy their work, and, after years in the workforce, they know where they fit.”
For the younger set, the fear of the unknown may have them rattled.
“Younger workers have begun to experience a tougher job market over the past year or two,” Schweyer said. “New college graduates have a very high rate of underemployment. Their ability to improve pay and work experience by switching jobs has eroded as well.”
It is also possible that younger workers are missing out on the benefits of working in an office, he added.
I reached out to a handful of workers 55 and over to hear first-hand how happy they are with their work and why that is.
“What makes work so satisfying for me at this stage of my career is not only that the job itself is interesting to me, but it’s a small organization that values my experience,” Tom Pavilon, 63, a strategic account manager for a Boston scouting firm, told Yahoo Finance.
But it’s the psychological cool that comes with years on the job that is a powerful component.
“At this age, you’ve seen it all, so things that used to get you worked up don’t anymore,” Pavilon said. “Certain behaviors that still exist in the workplace, you shake your head at. And there are things that younger workers think are blowing up the world that you know aren’t. Having that perspective makes the work more fulfilling because you’re not letting the noise bother you.”
While 57.4% of US workers under 25 report being satisfied with their jobs, that number is lower than the 72.4% of those 55 and older who do, according to a new report from The Conference Board. ·Xavier Lorenzo via Getty Images
For Paula Harper, 56, who lives in northern Virginia and works part-time as a virtual executive assistant to an association president, her work “keeps her plugged in, and the stress level is low.”
That’s in sharp contrast to her two-plus decades working full-time in higher education administration.
Harper stepped out of the workforce for six years to be a caregiver for a family member.
“I am just dipping my toe back in this year, and the work now gives me a little bit of something that’s my own, but at the same time, I don’t have to have the pressure of a full-time, mid- or high-level role. I can stay in the game and make some small contributions.
“The biggest point: I’m doing something,” she added, noting that finding work wasn’t easy after her break.
One caveat about these happy workers that shouldn’t be ignored: Employers and workers are on pins and needles these days.
“Job satisfaction may remain high for now because the economy, wage gains, and employment have stayed robust,” Schweyer said. “If the uncertainty turns into recession and much higher unemployment, satisfaction is likely to drop significantly.”
