Job Satisfaction Disconcertingly Low

5 months ago · < 1 minute read

You’d think that the lowest levels of job satisfaction would be during the worldwide pandemic of a few years ago. Tons of people out of work and even more trying to wrangle new technologies to work from home. Truly, an unhappy time. But, as it turns out, not the worst of times. People are even more dissatisfied now with their workplaces than they were four years prior. 

The Gallup poll from 2023 found that worker stress is at an all-time high and 80% of Americans are not satisfied with their employment. BambooHR’s Employee Happiness Index calls it the Great Gloom. Though job satisfaction has been steadily declining since 2020, 2023 saw a sharp increase, making it the least happy year yet. So the question is: why is everyone so unhappy?

Employees have identified many reasons. Only recently have wages outstripped inflation and many are still living paycheck-to-paycheck. Others point to the increasing trend of management forcing workers back into the office, even for jobs where office presence is totally unnecessary. However, there may be a deeper issue: that of new hires.

Many people laid off during the pandemic used the ensuing quarantine to find new jobs, sometimes in completely different sectors. It was a time of reflection and people used it to pursue something new. In 2021 and 2022, companies worked primarily on hiring new staff, without sparing much time to situate their hires. It left people feeling like the new pursuit wasn’t a good fit for them or adrift in the new positions.