By Dan McKeever
Employee job satisfaction has risen slightly this year, with 41% of employees reporting that they are "very satisfied" with their jobs, according to new data released by the Society for Human Resource Management.
The survey reported an overall satisfaction score of 82%, up from 79% last year (with 38% "very satisfied"). Female employees and employees age 56 and older registered high levels of satisfaction.
Job security ranked as the most important aspect of satisfaction, followed by benefits, compensation, feeling safe in the workplace, communication between employees and senior management, and opportunities to use skills and abilities. Work/life balance registered low levels of importance compared to years past.
Although work/life balance dropped in importance, the opportunity to use skills and abilities became more important to employees' job satisfaction. This shift suggests the importance of employee development in the future, especially as employers struggle to develop and retain employees.
Job satisfaction skews demographically. Employees who are 35 years old or younger said compensation was the most important aspect of job satisfaction, while workers age 35 and older said that job security was the top concern. Feeling safe in the workplace was also highly important to workers age 56 and older.
Career satisfaction also varies according to the size of the company. Employees of smaller companies considered job security to be very important, but employees of larger companies placed a greater emphasis on the importance of benefits.
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