The Conference Board Research Group has released the results of their survey regarding job satisfaction and the results show that 45% of Americans are content with their jobs. The lowest rate of job satisfaction since the study began over twenty-two years ago.
The study concludes that workers dissatisfaction with their jobs are for several reasons, and three of them are:
1.) fewer workers consider their jobs interesting
2.) incomes have not kept up with inflation
3.) The soaring cost of health insurance has eaten into workers’ take-home pay.

Americans’ job satisfaction falls to record low

This article provoked thoughts about the corporation that I worked for and retired from 14 years ago.
I’ve calculated the average salary from figures recorded from 2000 – 2009.

Salary Survey for Job: Mechanical Engineer

An engineer that obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering has an average salary of $50,740.00 within the first four years of employment.

Last year, the corporation asked employees to take a 10% cut in wages –

$50,740.00 – $5,074.00 = $45,666.00 annual salary

The corporation also demanded employees take 2 days off per month without pay, two weeks off during the summer without pay and starting January 1st, 2010 – the first week of January off without pay.
That works out to 39 days annually without pay.

Engineering is rarely a 40-hour per week job.
Overtime is common and 55-hour weeks are the norm.
For this discussion, we’ll ignore the fact that due to drastic cutbacks in employees, the remaining engineers are putting in 60+ hour weeks.
To keep it simple, we’ll stick with the 55-hour week.

39 days x 8 hours = 312 hours off without pay annually

Normally, employers calculate the hour paid per year, including paid vacation and holidays at 2,080 hours for a 40-hour week.
Since engineers’ average 55-hour weeks without overtime pay, the annual hours increase to 2,640 hours.

$45,666 /2640 = $17.30 per hour

According to the PayScale site above, the median salary for a Home Depot Retail Assistant Manager is $51,000 annually, and a college degree is not a requirement.

Four years at a university studying calculus, logarithms, science, physics, statistical analysis, and Strength of Materials for a job that pays less and is more stressful than an assistant manager at a hardware store.

Is it any wonder employees are not satisfied?

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I am a retired aerospace engineer, happily married for over twenty-four years. My hobbies include blogging on PPOV, reading mystery/romance novels, playing guitar, learning the piano and writing. My husband and I love to travel in our camper/trailer, and have visited 45 states, besides having lived in France for 2 years and seeing most of Europe. "Today is the first day of the rest of your life? Well, that's true of every day but one - the day you die." American Beauty "All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure." Mark Twain "A man is never more truthful than when he acknowledges himself a liar." Mark Twain

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kesmarn
Admin

j’avaz and friends, this economy really does seem to have a silver lining, doesn’t it? For the rich!

I still remember, some months ago when I was still at that Other Place Which Shall Not Be Named, a guy posted that he had been in a conversation with his wealthy, business-owner neighbor. The neighbor told this fellow that he had called together all his employees and given them a sober speech about how the tough economy was making it necessary for everyone to sacrifice. Reluctantly, he would have to reduce all their salaries by 5 percent, he told them. They accepted this, of course. But then he laughed and told the poster that he was actually doing quite well and had no need whatsoever to reduce salaries. But, as he put it: “It’s great time to take a little more for ME.”

I’m sure the business owner found this hilarious.

Sigh.

KQµårk 死神
Member

That about epitomizes the the “greed is good” mentality. Just screw as many people as you can until you get yours.

kesmarn
Admin

I’m sure my blood pressure went up when I first read that post. And I have never forgotten it. Even just recounting the anecdote makes me feel aggravated! But, you’re right KQ, there are any number of real life Gordon Gecko types out there.

I hope the ending of your second sentence will serve as a prediction for them! “….until you get yours.” 😮

KQµårk 死神
Member

I know exactly what you mean I watched 5 minutes of one of those financial shows maybe 8 years ago or so now. They were talking to this financial guru hedge fund manager who was in his early 30’s. I don’t remember much of what he said but he did say “what’s more important than money?”. I just thought wow what a fucked up way to look at life. Money is just a means to an end as soon as we made it an end to itself we are lost. That’s one reason I hate that other sites obsession with money.

kesmarn
Admin

And that 30 something hedge fund manager is probably broke by now, KQ, but still scrambling for a dollar! That’s the irony of it!

We had a psych instructor years ago who commented: “If you are addicted to anything, and cannot bring yourself to give it up, when the end of your life rolls around, you will be left alone with only the thing you were addicted to. Everything else will have been driven away. And it will be the final destructive force in your life.”

nellie
Member

I think if we take a look at CEO compensation packages, we’ll quickly find out where the money for salaries has gone.

KQµårk 死神
Member

Great point. It’s been proven that most pay increases have gone to corporate officer compensation and healthcare costs.

Personally my job satisfaction dropped year after year when I was working. Every year your company wanted more for less. Every year your benefits got worse. Every year your hours got longer. Every year your job was more insecure and more of your colleagues were laid off. Every year you were given less resources to do your job. Every year management demanded shorter and shorter time frames to complete projects. Every year job stresses mounted while rewards diminished.

I found out the last two or three years that I worked I was probably going into heart failure and in the end my job contributed to the severity of my illness.

The constant insecurity provides employers with exactly what they want a scared workforce that does not demand fair compensation. Big corporations are just life and soul sucking mechanisms to take away our freedom. That’s why I have to laugh when teabaggers say the government wants to take away their freedom because in my experience big business succeeds at taking our freedom. Now to our biggest misfortune big business has it’s testicles so far in government that it will take decades to get our freedoms back if ever.

whatsthatsound
Member

Bingo! In Japan, Germany, France, etc. the ratio of executive to lowest paid worker is between 1/10-15. In Britain, it is higher but not out of that same ballpark. In the U.S. CEOs might make three or four hundred times what their new hires and desk jockeys make. It’s simple gluttony, greed and arrogance. Today’s American CEOs are pharoahs, they are Bourbons; and they KNOW it!
Japanese business people I talk to think it’s disgusting, and what sane person could argue?

escribacat
Member

You got that right. Compare it to CEO compensation packages from other countries. In Japan and Europe, the disparity between highest paid workers and lowest paid workers is much smaller. Only in this country is unfettered greed considered a stellar quality and downright patriotic. How twisted is that?

bito
Member

I asked Mo about how the pay was controlled in Germany a few weeks ago. He stated that in both Germany and France the bonus system is controlled by law. The CEO’s there did receive a larger base salary than in the US but he bonus system is controlled by law.

If the Obama administration(or the Dems) would even come close to proposing that, all hell would break lose! “much more worse” than now.
“European Socialism”, “Communist”……….

BigDogMom
Member
BigDogMom

I hate to say this, but I swear the economic down turn for us was an economic opportunity for major and mid-size corporations in way of cutting salary overhead.

They have their employees by the balls….Don’t like what we offer you, two days of month off with no pay or working 55 hrs per week no overtime, too bad. There are 100 people that would kill for your job right now…

Corporations have used economic down turns to their advantage for ages now, I’ve seen it in the 80’s, 90’s and now. Some things never change.

dannie22
Member
dannie22

Could someone please tell me where to go to change my password?

nellie
Member

Just as javaz posted — go to the dashboard and you’ll see “profile” on the left.

For future reference, you can post any questions about the site on the HELP DESK. There’s a link right next to the one for posting a comment. Editors are more likely to see your question on that thread.