Are most workers dissatisfied with their jobs?

Job attitude surveys generally reveal that they are not, although job satisfaction continues to be a major concern.

There are, however, some differences that can be discerned. For example, professional and white-collar occupations report higher level of satisfaction than do blue-collar types of occupation over the years.

The important special case of female managers as reported in the accompanying Application Example. It's all up to Management, indicates considerable dissatisfaction among this small but growing segment of the work force. In addition to females, job satisfaction can be examined in other group such as young workers, blue-collar workers and middle managers.

Young workers seem to be less satisfied with their jobs than their older counterparts. There are number of reason for this. One is that young workers came into the workplace with high expectation that may not be fulfilled, as jobs prove insufficiently challanging or meaningful. Another reason for dissatisfaction is that many young graduates of colleges and even high school may be overqualified for their jobs.

Even middle managers who have survived these cutbacks feel that they do not have much influence in the organisation. They are paid to do their work and not to ask a lot of question. Middle managers continue to share the goals of top mannagement, but they are more concerned, anxious and dissatisfied than ever about their own careers.