Great Resignation workers less satisfied than before

On second thought, call it the Great Regret.

Workers who quit their job during the Great Resignation are significantly less satisfied than their colleagues who stayed, according to a new survey by The Conference Board. Their overall job satisfaction is down 5.6 percentage points.

The greatest gaps in satisfaction between the job switchers and job stayers were leadership and culture. Those who resigned during COVID-19 are also unhappy with communications, interest in their work, co-workers, and job security.

Meanwhile, job satisfaction among all employees remained virtually unchanged, up 0.4 percentage points to 62.7%, but every individual driver of job satisfaction declined.

“After more than a decade trending upwards, overall U.S. worker job satisfaction may have finally plateaued,” said Allan Schweyer, principal researcher, human capital, The Conference Board.

Other than people-related issues, it’s money that matters.

Workers who switched jobs, partly because of money, now report less satisfaction with wages. Among all workers, the largest declines in satisfaction were primarily in financial benefits, such as bonuses, hard base benefits, wages, and promotions.

“To avoid declining job satisfaction, leaders should maintain or improve key drivers such as flexible work arrangements and career development opportunities while ensuring that wages and core benefits remain competitive,” Schweyer said.

Other key findings in the survey:

Workers who stay are more satisfied than newer employees

Job satisfaction rose from 58.2% to 63.6% once an employee met the three-year mark and continued to increase until the 10-year mark. Satisfaction was lowest among those who worked in their current job between six months and three years.

Remote workers are more satisfied than those on-site

Fully on-site workers reported the lowest job satisfaction at 60.2%, while satisfaction for fully remote workers was 64.1%. Overall job satisfaction for hybrid workers was 65.5%.

Women report lower job satisfaction than men

For the sixth consecutive year, women are significantly less satisfied across almost all 26 job satisfaction components. The largest gaps related to wages, bonuses, potential for growth, health benefits, and retirement plans.

— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Kevin Brewer at Kevin.Brewer@aicpa-cima.com.