Most American workers say they like their jobs, but the enthusiasm behind that answer is thinning. Gallup’s Work and Education poll found that 86% of US workers were completely or somewhat satisfied with their job in August 2024 (48% completely satisfied), down from 91% in 2023. Ask a harder question and the numbers fall further: Gallup’s May 2026 reading shows only 19% of US employees are extremely satisfied with their company as a place to work, versus 30% in 2009. Only 31% of US employees were engaged at work in 2025, and 17% were actively disengaged.
This page pulls together the most current job satisfaction statistics for 2026, with a focus on pay, engagement, turnover, and the industries Tall Trees Talent recruits for.
Summary: key job satisfaction statistics at a glance
- 86% of US workers were completely or somewhat satisfied with their job in 2024, down from 91% in 2023 (Gallup).
- 19% of US employees were extremely satisfied with their company as a place to work in May 2026, down from 30% in 2009 (Gallup).
- 31% of US employees were engaged in 2025, while 17% were actively disengaged (Gallup).
- 22% of managers worldwide were engaged in 2025, down from 31% in 2022 (Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2026).
- $10 trillion, or 9% of global GDP, is the productivity cost of low engagement (Gallup).
- 1.9% was the US quit rate in August 2026, with 3.1 million quits (BLS JOLTS).
- 4.1 years is median employee tenure as of January 2026, up from 3.9 in 2024 (BLS).
- 24.9% of workers searched for a job in the past four weeks as of July 2026, up from 22.5% in March (New York Fed).
- $88,387 is the average reservation wage, a series high (New York Fed).
- 42.9% of employees held a positive business outlook in September 2026, the third record low of the year (Glassdoor).
- 92% of construction firms report difficulty hiring (AGC and NCCER, 2025).
How satisfied are American workers overall?
The headline answer is still positive. In Gallup’s August 2024 poll, 48% of workers were completely satisfied with their job and another 38% were somewhat satisfied, for a combined 86%. A year earlier the split was 50% and 41%, and in 2022 it was 49% and 39%. The 2024 dip is modest, but it is the lowest combined reading of those three years. That August 2024 poll is the latest edition published on Gallup’s work and workplace page.
The picture changes when workers are asked about their employer rather than their job. Gallup’s US employee engagement tracker asks how satisfied employees are with their company as a place to work, and counts only the top box. Extremely satisfied responses were 30% in January 2009, 26% in January 2020, and 19% in May 2026.
Put the two together and you get the central tension of 2026. Most people are content enough to say they are satisfied with a job. Far fewer are enthusiastic about the organization they work for.
Engagement and the manager problem
Satisfaction and engagement are different measures, but they move together. According to Gallup’s tracker, 31% of US employees were engaged in 2025 and 17% were actively disengaged. That leaves roughly half the workforce in the middle, neither committed nor checked out.
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2026 report puts global engagement at 20% for 2025 and estimates that low engagement cost the world economy about $10 trillion in lost productivity, or 9% of GDP. Manager engagement is the sharpest decline: 22% of managers worldwide were engaged in 2025, down from 31% in 2022. Gallup notes that managers once enjoyed an engagement premium over the people they lead, and that premium is now mostly gone. Its US tracker also reports that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team engagement, so a disengaged manager is a satisfaction risk for an entire crew.
For plant managers, project directors, and operations leaders, that is a practical warning. The person who sets the schedule, assigns the work, and recognizes good performance is increasingly running on empty.
What drives (and drains) satisfaction at work
Gallup’s 2024 poll breaks satisfaction into job features, and the spread is wide. Workers were most likely to be completely satisfied with safety conditions at work (70%), relations with coworkers (67%), and their boss or supervisor (60%). They were least likely to be completely satisfied with the money they earn (31%).
That 70% safety figure matters for energy, construction, manufacturing, and transportation employers, where physical risk is part of the job. Safety culture appears to be an area where employers earn credit.
Gallup’s May 2026 engagement readings show where many workplaces fall short on the basics. Only 29% of US employees report receiving recognition for good work, and just 26% say their opinions count at work (Gallup’s top-box readings). The share who strongly agree they know what is expected of them fell from 57% in 2007 to 49% in 2026.
Among manufacturing workers, The Manufacturing Institute’s engagement and retention study (fieldwork in 2020, so treat it as dated) found 83% of surveyed employees were satisfied with their job. Feeling valued made the difference: 97% of workers who felt valued were satisfied, compared with 30% of those who did not. Employees who felt unfairly treated were nearly 10 times as likely to be looking for a new job (19% versus 2%).
Pay satisfaction is the weak spot
Pay is where satisfaction is hardest to earn. The New York Fed’s Survey of Consumer Expectations Labor Market Survey for July 2026 shows satisfaction with wages rose 2.9 percentage points, nonwage benefits rose 3.6 points, and promotion opportunities rose 0.9 points from March. But the Fed adds that satisfaction with wage compensation and promotion opportunities remains close to the series lows reached in March 2026.
Expectations have moved faster than paychecks. The average reservation wage, the lowest pay a worker would accept for a new job, reached a series high of $88,387 in July 2026. At the same time, the average expected likelihood of receiving a job offer in the next four months fell to 18.0%, the lowest since March 2021. Workers want more and believe it is harder to get.
Job search activity reflects the tension. The share of workers who searched for a job in the past four weeks rebounded to 24.9% in July from 22.5% in March.
Turnover and tenure: satisfied, or just staying put?
If satisfaction were collapsing, quits would be surging. They are not. The BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey for August 2026 shows 3.1 million quits (a 1.9% rate), the same as August 2025. Job openings were 7.1 million (4.3%) and hires were 5.2 million (3.3%).
The industry quit rates (private sector, August 2026, preliminary) show how stable the industrial workforce is compared with service jobs:
- Mining and logging: 2.3%
- Transportation, warehousing, and utilities: 1.9% (2.0% a year earlier)
- Construction: 1.8% (unchanged from a year earlier)
- Manufacturing: 1.6% (up from 1.3% a year earlier)
- Accommodation and food services: 3.5%
Manufacturing’s quit rate rose the most of any industry listed, and it deserves attention from plant leaders even though it remains the lowest of the group.
Tenure tells a similar story. The BLS Employee Tenure release of September 24, 2026 reports median tenure of 4.1 years in January 2026, up from 3.9 in 2024. Workers ages 55 to 64 had a median of 9.6 years, more than triple the 3.0 years for workers ages 25 to 34. Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction and manufacturing each had a median tenure of 4.9 years, among the highest of any industry, while leisure and hospitality was lowest at 2.4 years.
Low quit rates and rising tenure do not prove that workers are happy. With confidence low and job offers scarce, many may simply be staying put. That is a retention risk that does not show up until hiring conditions loosen.
Industry spotlight: construction and the skilled trades
Construction has a long record of strong job satisfaction. NCCER’s analysis of the University of Chicago’s General Social Survey found that construction workers reported higher job satisfaction than other industries across four economic cycles between 1974 and 2014 (NCCER published the analysis in 2022, so this is dated).
The challenge is getting and keeping people. In the 2025 AGC and NCCER Workforce Survey, 92% of firms reported difficulty hiring for open positions, 48% said new hires failed to show up or left quickly, and 45% of contractors had experienced project delays because of worker shortages. High satisfaction among people already in the trades has not solved the pipeline problem. Early-tenure retention is the gap. For employers building project teams, construction recruiting is as much about fit and onboarding as it is about filling seats.
Emerging trends and what’s new in 2026
Confidence is at record lows. The Glassdoor Employee Confidence Index for September 2026 shows 42.9% of employees with a positive six-month business outlook, down from 44.5% in August and the third record low of 2026. Entry-level confidence is down 4.1 points year over year, mid-level is down 1.9 points, and senior-level is up 4.6 points. Year over year, Glassdoor reviews mention uncertainty 84% more often, AI 164% more often, and layoffs 13% more often.
Transportation is a relative bright spot. In Glassdoor’s June 2026 index, transportation and logistics confidence rose 5.9% year over year, even as technology, insurance, and hospitality sectors fell.
Managers are the new retention risk. With manager engagement at 22% globally in 2025, the leaders responsible for team satisfaction are among the least engaged workers in the organization, according to Gallup.
Workers are less optimistic about the job market. Gallup’s 2026 workplace report found 52% of employees worldwide said it was a good time to find a job in 2025, and that US and Canada ranked second to last among regions on job market perception.
Satisfaction by seniority is diverging. The senior-level and entry-level confidence gap in Glassdoor’s data suggests the people hiring and the people being hired are experiencing different labor markets.
How Tall Trees Talent helps
Tall Trees Talent helps energy, construction, manufacturing, and transportation employers fill individual contributor and manager-level roles with recruiters who have worked in these industries themselves. When satisfaction is built on the quality of the match between a person and a role, getting the hire right matters as much as getting it fast. Learn how Tall Trees Talent recruits for energy employers to see how it works.
