Despite Down Economy, Workers’ Spirits Still Up,

Says Annual Job Happiness Index

By Kelly V. Lobanov

Notwithstanding a slumping housing market, surging energy prices and a fluctuating stock market, nearly two thirds of employed Americans say they are happy at work, according to a recent survey.  The 65 percent of content U.S. workers is up slightly from the 61 percent who said they were happy in their jobs last year. 

While the annual SnagAJob.com Labor Happiness Index finds that worker happiness is trending upwards slightly, the U.S. labor force is expressing marked concern over the nation’s economy.  Six in 10 (57%) working Americans say that the economy is the most important issue facing the country today, a dramatic year-over-year increase from the two in 10 workers (18%) who said it was the most important issue in 2007. 

Healthcare (21%), war (20%) and the economy (18%) were of relatively equal concern a year ago.  But given workers’ substantial concern for the current economy, healthcare and war have now dropped to 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively, in the 2008 survey.

“This year, it’s encouraging to see that the majority of hourly and salaried employees are still heading to work each day with positive feelings, especially in light of the economic roller coaster we’ve been riding – including high gas prices, a mortgage crisis and months of overall job losses,” said Shawn Boyer, chief executive officer of SnagAJob.com, a Web site for hourly jobs.  “And while many workers are genuinely content at work, given today’s fiscal climate, I am sure there are those who believe that simply having a job is reason enough to be happy.”

By demographics, some of the happiest workers are those living in the West.   For two years, the survey has indicated that workers in the West are happier than those living in the Northeast, although each region is trending happier.  This year, 70 percent of workers in the West call themselves happy, versus 58 percent in the Northeast.  These numbers represent a 3 percent increase for the West and a 6 percent increase for the Northeast from 2007.

Like those in the West, older workers may be more apt to be smiling at work, too.    Nearly three in four (74 percent) of workers ages 55-plus say they are happy, a jump from the approximately two in three older workers with the same feelings last year. 

Ipsos Public Affairs, a third-party research firm, conducted the telephone survey of more than 1,000 salaried and hourly employees for SnagAJob.com.