Whether you like going to work every day or not, sometimes it’s easier to get through a day if you know your work is making a difference to someone. But it turns out, there are plenty of people in the U.S. who don’t think that at all.
A new YouGov survey finds:
- 55% of Americans believe their job is making a meaningful contribution to the world.
- Sadly, 22% of people believe their job is meaningless.
- Baby Boomers are the most likely to think their job is making an impact (66%).
- While members of Gen Z are the most likely to feel their job is not making any sort of meaningful contribution (27%), followed by Millennials (26%).
- Folks employed in the health care/social assistance field are the most likely to think their job is making a meaningful impact (73%), followed by:
- Education (72%)
- Law & legal services (64%)
- Non-profit, community, religious and social services (64%)
- Government (64%)
- Interestingly, those in media, communications and digital entertainment are the most likely to say their jobs are meaningless (40%), although there are still more people in that industry who think it has an impact (42%).
- Those in the restaurant/travel/lodging services are more likely to think their job is meaningless (37%), than making a meaningful impact on the world (35%).
- The same is true for those in the wholesale trade, with 44% saying it’s meaningless, and 40% saying it’s making an impact.
- Overall, 67% of Americans say they feel personally fulfilled by their work, while 27% are not.
- But just because a job isn’t meaningful, doesn’t mean folks are unfulfilled by it.
- 42% of people who say their job isn’t meaningful say their job is either very or somewhat fulfilling, although 56% of those workers say they are not personally fulfilled by work.
- Not surprising, 88% of those who say their job is meaningful are also fulfilled by their work.
Source:YouGov