We can’t get no satisfaction.
Nearly 60 percent of American workers say they would choose a different career, according to a new survey from Yahoo Finance and Parade magazine.
The survey also found that workers value making more money over some R&R; more than half of employees said they would choose a 5 percent raise over a boost in vacation time.
The findings highlight some of the trends that have become all too commonplace during the recession and its aftermath. With the job market tight, Americans are taking any work they can get and corporations are squeezing more money out of each worker than before the downturn.
More than half of working Americans say they have three months of savings or less, according to the Yahoo and Parade survey. And many employees say they’ll be working past traditional retirement age; nearly 30 percent expect to retire between the ages of 66 and 70, the survey found.
All of these factors may explain why American workers hadn’t regained the level of job satisfaction they felt before the recession, according to a Gallup poll from May of last year. Nearly three-quarters of employees say they’re stressed at work, a Harris poll found. The top source of that stress: low wages.
But workers take note: Once you make $75,000 per year, the rest is all gravy. Any money beyond that level of household income doesn’t do anything to increase happiness, according to a 2010 survey cited by The New York Times.