American Workers Mostly Happy with Their Jobs

Washington DC, May 23, 2023 - A new survey of American workers from the Washington Post and Ipsos finds that most workers are satisfied with their jobs, even as a significant minority report their work-life balance swings too far towards work.

• Most workers say that pay (89%) and having a good boss (89%) are very or extremely important. Retirement (75%), health (77%), and vacation (72%) benefits are also important to large majorities of workers.
  • When asked to choose one piece of compensation, more workers picked pay (45%) than any other aspect of the job.
• When asked about their preferred job situation, most Americans are looking for good pay, even if it involves in-office work, and a job with clarity on the day-to-day tasks. Americans are also split on wanting to work with others or mostly alone.
• Most American workers say their approach to work is to excel and advance, not just to deliver what they are paid for.
• Two in five American workers would prefer to work from home all or most of the time. Among that group, not commuting is their most cited reason for preferring remote work.
• Since March 2020, the start of the pandemic, one in three workers report changing jobs.

Read the Washington Post's piece here.

About the Study

This poll was jointly sponsored and funded by The Washington Post and Ipsos. It was conducted among a random sample of 1,540 U.S. adults ages 18 to 64, including 1,148 full-time or part-time workers. Interviews were conducted in English and Spanish.

The questionnaire was administered with the exact questions in the exact order as they appear in this document. Demographic questions are not shown. If a question was asked of a reduced base of the sample, a parenthetical preceding the question identifies the group asked.

Ipsos conducted sampling, interviewing and tabulation for the survey using the KnowledgePanel, an ongoing survey panel recruited through random sampling of U.S. households through address-based sampling. Panel members who do not have internet access are provided with a tablet and internet service.

This survey uses statistical weighting procedures to account for deviations in the survey sample from known population characteristics, which helps correct for differential survey participation and random variation in samples. The 18-64 adult sample was weighted to match the makeup of the population geodemographics to the sources below.

The margin of sampling error for the sample of workers, including the design effect is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Note that sampling error is only one of many potential sources of error in this or any other public opinion poll.

All error margins have been adjusted to account for the survey’s design effect, which is 1.4. The design effect is a factor representing the survey’s deviation from a simple random sample and takes into account decreases in precision due to sample design and weighting procedures. Surveys that do not incorporate a design effect overstate their precision.

For more information on this news release, please contact:

Chris Jackson
Senior Vice President,
Public Affairs, U.S.
[email protected]

Mallory Newall
Vice President,
Public Affairs, U.S.
[email protected]

About Ipsos

Ipsos is the world’s third largest Insights and Analytics company, present in 90 markets and employing more than 18,000 people.

Our passionately curious research professionals, analysts and scientists have built unique multi-specialist capabilities that provide true understanding and powerful insights into the actions, opinions and motivations of citizens, consumers, patients, customers or employees. We serve more than 5000 clients across the world with 75 business solutions.

Founded in France in 1975, Ipsos is listed on the Euronext Paris since July 1st, 1999. The company is part of the SBF 120 and the Mid-60 index and is eligible for the Deferred Settlement Service (SRD).

ISIN code FR0000073298, Reuters ISOS.PA, Bloomberg IPS:FP www.ipsos.com