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Are 80%+ of Americans Really Satisfied With Their Jobs? The Atlantic Stumbles.
The Atlantic has an article claiming that the vast majority of Americans in the work force are happy with their jobs and that The Great Resignation is a myth. Happy workers are simply taking this opportunity to look for even better jobs. Furthermore, the author refers to those who complain about employers and jobs as “Marxists” — repeatedly! — in the same article.
The Marxists apparently include The New York Times Magazine and Kim Kardashian who are cited directly by Derek Thompson, the author of this piece.
Thompson begins making his case by citing a poll by The Conference Board — a membership organization of employers. He then admits that this is less than convincing due to the clear interests of that group.
Then, he cites what he calls “the gold standard” of polling: General Social Survey. This group has been polling Americans about work life since 2002 and concludes that the percentage of workers who are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs is at 84%. This is down from 88%.
Really? In recent years — just before the pandemic — 88% of American workers were satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs? Isn’t that number suspiciously high for ANY poll? Maybe it’s the percentage of Iraqis who voted for Saddam Hussein in the 1980s…
