Labor Day Gallup Poll: More U.S. Workers Unhappy with Health Benefits, Promotions

More U.S. workers say they are dissatisfied with their health insurance benefits and their chances for promotion today than they were before the global economic collapse in 2008, according to the annual Gallup work and education poll.

The findings, from workers surveyed between Aug. 11-14, indicate that the majority of workers are at least “somewhat satisfied” with these aspects of their job, but that fewer than half are “completely satisfied.”

On-the-job stress still tops the annual survey as the aspect of work people are  the least positive about overall, like it did last year, with 28 percent of workers saying they are completely satisfied. Workers are the most satisfied with the physical safety conditions of their workplace, with 72 percent completely satisfied.

Workers tend to be more satisfied with the people they work with and their schedule than they are with what they receive in return. Fewer than half are completely satisfied with the recognition they receive, their chances for promotion, their health insurance benefits, the retirement plan their employer offers, and the amount of money they earn.

Just under half of workers, 49 percent, tell Gallup they are completely satisfied with their job security. But thirty percent of workers, almost an all-time high for the Gallup survey, worry about being laid off in the near future.

Eighty-three percent of workers surveyed said they are satisfied with their jobs overall, compared with 90 percent before the recession, Gallup said.

The survey didn’t ask workers about their level of engagement with their work and workplace, which Gallup research has documented as an even more important measure of productivity and job creation than job satisfaction.

Note: Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 489 adults, 18 and older, employed full- or part-time and living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error is 6 percentage points.