Workers might be hugging their jobs a little tighter this Valentine’s Day amid a spiraling unemployment rate of 7.6 percent and a loss of 1.8 million jobs since December 2008.
More than three-fourths of U.S. adults surveyed in February 2009 say they love what they do as much or more than before the recession, and 86 percent don’t think loving what you do is less important even in the midst of the economic freefall.
That said, slightly more than half would have chosen a different career path knowing what they know today, according to an Adecco USA “Workplace Insights” survey of 2,158 U.S. adults—1,206 who are employed full- or part-time.
The idea of choosing a different career path “speaks to the fact that as people work in a career they often learn and are exposed to other careers they wouldn’t have thought about,” said Bernadette Kenny, chief career officer of Adecco USA. “It’s in that broad context that you’re always finding yourself,” she said, adding, “I think some of the respondents are probably in the automotive industry and wish they would have chosen healthcare” as a career path.
Americans “truly go to work to want to work and to do a good job,” Kenny told SHRM Online. Until recently, “this is one of the few places in the world where [if] you don’t love your job you can go out and find another one.”
Among findings from the survey:
- 41 percent of U.S. workers say appreciation for their job dominates their Monday morning emotions, vs. 26 percent who feel indifferent and 21 percent are excited to be going to work.
- 46 percent of women are appreciative to start the work week, vs. 38 percent of men. Apparently men feel more indifferent to the start of the work week than their female counterparts—31 percent vs. 21 percent of working women.
- 90 percent of workers overall have the same level of confidence in their company’s executive team since the economy has worsened.
- 9 percent dread the start of a new work week.
Three out of 10 of 1,167 Baby Boomers and 532 Gen X workers are nervous about the stability of their job, vs. 20 percent of 459 Gen Y workers. However, Gen Y employees are willing to work harder or longer hours than the other two groups, the survey found.
More Baby Boomers and Gen X workers are nervous about the stability of their job than Gen Y workers, but Gen Y employees are willing to work harder or longer hours than the other two groups, the Workplace Insights survey found.
The troubling job market trend of recent months shows no end in sight, according to the monthly Leading Indicators of National Employment (LINE) Report) from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). In fact, in its first-ever Labor Market Report, SHRM found that almost three-fourths of 463 HR professionals surveyed anticipate deeper job cuts in the U.S. labor force during the first quarter of 2009.
And in January 2009, the Employment Trends Index from The Conference Board noted that during 2008, total nonfarm employment declined by more than 2.5 million; it suggested that it could increase by another 2 million.
“The continued deterioration in the Employment Trends Index signals that no turnaround in the labor market is to be expected in the near future,” Conference Board senior economist Gad Levanon said in a January news release.
It’s not surprising then that slightly more than half of 633 HR professionals have spent more time calming employee fears about job security compared to six months ago, SHRM found in an October 2008 poll. Privately owned organizations and nonprofits experience this “significantly more” than those that are publically owned, SHRM found.
HR can play a role in stoking the love and appreciation employees have for their job, Kenny said.
“HR can encourage managers who may not be thinking of the [St. Valentine’s day] holiday to use the holiday as a little bit of a thank you,” she told SHRM Online, and to “coach managers on the importance of being appreciative.”
That includes a transparent management style as well as small gestures, she added.
“When you look at the stress workers are under, it’s the small signal that means the most—saying thank you, keeping your doors open, openly communicating about the financial performance of the organization on a regular basis, being responsive to people’s personal issues.
“It’s a huge thing, but small actions like that ago a long, long way to keeping engagement and productivity high, even if you’re doing other kinds of cost reductions.”
Kathy Gurchiek is associate editor for HR News. She can be reached at kathy.gurchiek@shrm.org.