Thursday, November 19, 2009
America Loves To Work! (Subtitled: Gosh I love cheesy stock photography!)
Our country is messed up. We are obsessed with working (well, at least the companies we work for are). But seriously, other countries have 35 hour work weeks and employees get 4-6 weeks off a year. They have free health care and extended maternity leave. So you'd think a country that is so work-crazed would actually like their jobs. After all, if you are gonna spend half your waking hours five days a week at your job and hardly ever get any time off you should enjoy it. Well think again! I had read ages ago that something like 95% of Americans don't like their job. Now, I certainly understand people who don't have a college degree not liking their job. A lot of people are forced to work thankless retail and customer service jobs and deal with rude, thoughtless idiotic customers all day, but what excuse to people with a college degree have? 
You hear people complain about their jobs all the time and I always wonder... if you hate your job so much, why don't you find a new one?
Well, according to a new survey released today it sounds like Americans are going to do just that! Sixty percent of employees polled "intend to leave" their jobs and 21 percent said "Maybe, so I'm networking," according to the survey by Right Management, a talent and career management consulting firm. 
Just 13 percent said they planned to stay in their current jobs. THIRTEEN PERCENT!! The remaining 6 percent said changing jobs was "not likely, but I've updated my resume." I find that fascinating. That's a LOT of people who don't like their job, and I'm guessing, are giving less than their best.
I think Americans need to change their priorities. We are too focused on things that don't bring us happiness. But, the realist in me doesn't see that changing anytime soon!
