A new Gallup survey of more than 18,000 workers across industries, occupations, and employment types finds that the vast majority of American workers, 60%, do not have “quality jobs” that provide basic economic well-being, security, and other factors.
“The top-line results are definitely sobering,” said Maria Flynn, president and CEO of Jobs for the Future, which led the study. “The labor market is creating jobs, but there aren’t enough jobs for workers to actually grow.”
Researchers define high-quality work as meeting minimum standards in three out of five dimensions:
Financial well-being, including a fair salary that meets basic needs to reduce financial stress. Work culture and safety in a safe and respectful environment free of harassment. Opportunities for growth and development. Workers have a clear path to building skills and gaining experience for career advancement. independence and voice. They have decision-making rights regarding working conditions, such as wages and the use of technology. Labor structure and autonomy. Workers have stable, predictable schedules and control over when and how their work is completed.
Where are the quality jobs?
The industries with the highest proportion of high-quality jobs are professional services, financial activities, and wholesale trade. Workers in leisure and hospitality, retail, and warehousing industries are less likely to have high-quality jobs.
Only 40% of workers are in what the study defines as high-quality jobs. This is concerning, given that people in high-quality jobs are more likely to report being satisfied with their lives, health, and happiness, in addition to feeling better about their jobs.
Flynn told CNBC Make It that companies tend to focus on how wages attract and engage workers. But focusing solely on pay structure fails to consider all the other ways that work can impact employee well-being. Poor performance in one dimension can affect certain segments of the workforce, she says.
How can we ensure these entry-level roles include these quality elements? We don’t just think that quality work is important enough to get you higher up in your career.
Maria Flynn
Jobs for the Future President and CEO
For example, one of the biggest problem areas for workers appears to be around controlling their work schedules. “We often hear that scheduling is difficult in the retail and service industries,” Flynn said. These industries are often low-wage jobs dominated by women.
According to Gallup data, 34% of women are less likely to have a high-quality job than 45% of men.
Interestingly, data shows that non-W-2 workers are more likely to have higher-quality jobs than those in W-2 jobs, whether part-time or full-time. This is a bit counterintuitive, considering that many independent contractors don’t have the financial stability, access to benefits, or regular work hours that salaried workers do.
But these workers may also feel they have more autonomy over their work environment, schedules and other conditions to meet standards for quality work, Flynn said.
Young workers are least likely to have high-quality jobs
When it comes to other areas for improvement, around half of workers say they are excluded from decisions that shape their working conditions. About a quarter say their employer doesn’t offer them opportunities for advancement or advancement, and a similar proportion report feeling like they’re being treated unfairly at work because of their identity.
On the other hand, 29% of workers said they were either “just getting by” or “finding it difficult to get by.”
Young workers between the ages of 18 and 24 are the least likely to have a high-quality job compared to other age groups. Only 29% of young professionals have jobs that meet the study’s quality criteria, and many say they have less decision-making power, more scheduling conflicts, and experience greater levels of discrimination and incivility in the workplace.
The low proportion of high-quality jobs for young workers “really raises the question of how do we make sure there’s an element of quality in these entry-level roles? We don’t just think that high-quality jobs are important as you get higher up in your career,” Flynn says.
Employers can do a better job of ensuring quality working conditions for their youngest employees, she said, adding that this “is a call to action for other groups, such as community-based organizations and higher education institutions, to actually help young people make good and informed decisions about their career paths.”
Flynn said the research shows there are ways companies can improve the quality of work they provide, at little or no cost, beyond paying a fair wage, such as offering more mentoring and career development opportunities and enhancing the way employees consider decisions that affect how they do their work.
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