A majority of office workers grade their job a B-, according to new research. Which begs the question, do Americans really love what they do?
A new study exploring office jobs and employee satisfaction levels within the US, saw workers grade their jobs as deserving a B (85%) in terms of their day-to-day tasks.
Respondents also voted a B- (81%) in work-life balance, and similarly a B- (81%) in company morale and a B- (81%) in their benefits package.
Commissioned by Kforce, a staffing services and solutions firm, and conducted by OnePoll, this nationwide study surveyed 2,000 full-time office workers across all industries.
The survey also found that women scored their office jobs a full letter grade lower than their male counterparts in topics like potential for internal growth, company morale and benefits.
With 58% of men and 47% of women saying they love their office job, loving work is a vital part of career fulfillment. In fact, 67% of Americans believe it’s very important to love their job, and nearly half of American office workers would take a pay cut to pursue a job that matched their passion.
Those respondents who would take a passion pay cut are willing to leave as much as 29% of their salary to take a job they love.
“People are willing make sacrifices or think beyond pure compensation to put themselves in a better situation,” said Ryan Lynch, client relationship executive at Kforce. “In return, employers are willing to make sacrifices for someone who’s passionate about their work. Some clients will pay more for a standout candidate or hire someone without having a defined job opening. Employers understand that success comes from great people who love what they do.”
The biggest weaknesses of the average office job? According to respondents: communication (31%), employee retention (31%) and staff diversity/inclusion (28%).
So, what’s holding office workers back from pursuing a job they love more? Forty percent of job seekers claim that the biggest hold-up is available opportunities.
“Job seekers want access to a variety of jobs and many are leveraging recruiters to expand their job search,” said Alex Bury, senior director of national delivery at Kforce. “Sometimes a recruiter looks at a resume, and the perfect position for them just clicks. With their level of intuition from matching people with jobs around the country, recruiters can advise them where to look.”
Today’s job seekers also have favorable forecasts on their ultimate career path, according to the survey. The average office worker believes they’re less than five years away from their dream job, and 62 percent believe they could achieve their dream job at their current company.
The average office worker believes they’ll stay at their current company for about five and a half more years. Although, they’d stay longer if they received higher pay (53%), better benefits (47%), a promotion (40%), a more flexible schedule (37%) and/or office technology improvements (36%).
