The majority of employees (58%) say the current economy has no effect on their overall job satisfaction, according to the “2009 Job Satisfaction Survey,” released by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

Employees at organizations “somewhat affected” by the recession are more likely to be satisfied than employees at organizations that have been “greatly impacted” by the economy. More than 40 percent of those surveyed said they are “very satisfied” with their jobs and 45 percent are “somewhat satisfied.”

“Although employees say the weak economy has no negative impact on overall job satisfaction, the recession is the reason why job security is the top ranked factor to workplace satisfaction among HR professionals and employees in 2009,” said SHRM President and CEO Laurence G. O’Neil.

“Job security is the number one aspect of job satisfaction this year, topping benefits, compensation, and feeling safe at work.”

Specifically, human resource professionals (72%) and employees (63%) place job security at the top of the “very important” aspects of job satisfaction.

Other highlights from the survey include:

Employees view health care and medical benefits (64 percent) as more valuable than paid time off (58 percent), defined contribution plans (41 percent), defined benefit pension plans (39 percent), and family-friendly benefits (29 percent).

Regarding benefits, both HR professionals (82 percent) and employees (64 percent) rank first health care/medical benefits the most important to job satisfaction.

Employees with longer tenure at organizations rank benefits, such as defined contribution plans and defined benefit pension plans, as more important to job satisfaction than do employees with shorter tenure.

More females report paid time off, the relationship with the immediate boss and co-workers, and flexibility to balance work and life issues as being important to job satisfaction than men do.

Employees 35 years old and younger said family-friendly benefits were more important than did employees age 56 and older.

Career development and networking opportunities, paid training and reimbursement programs, meaningfulness of job, and an organization’s commitment to a green workplace were among the job satisfaction aspects that were least in importance to employees between 2008 and 2009.

Tags: Economy, Job Satisfaction

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 11:46 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

About the Author: Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.