US Employee Well-Being Hit New Low In 2024, Survey Reveals

alternative_right shares a report from Phys.org: New research from the Human Capital Development Lab at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School analyzes the state of the American workforce in 2024 and shows an overall decline in employee well-being compared to years prior. [...] The latest research confirms a decline in general employee well-being since 2020. In 2024, employees reported the lowest well-being scores on record, as opposed to 2020, when employees reported the highest well-being scores.

"In some cases, the lower scores represent a reduction in employee flexibility for either flexible hours or remote work," the latest research states. "In other cases, these scores could be related to challenges associated with greater economic shifts related to inflation or productivity needs." In prior years, well-being scores for managers and employees were comparable to one another, and during the pandemic, managers and top leaders often reported lower scores due to the extra burden of that time period. However, one of the most noteworthy shifts the current data shows is a rise in well-being scores for managers and senior leaders, while well-being for employees and individual contributors decreased in 2024.

Rick Smith, director of the Human Capital Development Lab and author of the study, says that the increase in well-being scores for managers could reflect the return to regular operating conditions since the pandemic, which may be indicative of the distance between leadership and workers. "What we're seeing is a growing gap between how leaders and their teams experience the workplace," said Smith. "Managers may feel a return to normalcy, but that doesn't mean their employees do. Leaders must be cautious not to assume their own well-being reflects the broader workforce at their organization. The data shows a potential disconnect, and that's a signal for action."

I've done it all wrong

[reynolds_john]

I spend all my time grinding and doing actual work, when what I obviously ought to be doing is applying for grants so I can research the blindingly obvious.

Re:

[test321]

If it was obvious, please guess without looking at the paper which of the years 5 past years had the highest and the lowest well-being at work; and which managerial levels had the lowest and highest well being in years 2022 and 2024. Or which year the level of satisfaction of older and younger suddenly swapped, and by how much they differed in 2021 and in 2024.

Re:

[gtall]

So, you read the headline and somehow the entire report was bleeding obvious? As test321 below noted, please inform us about what aspects of the report you found obvious.

Re:

[fluffernutter]

To me it seemed pretty obvious that back to work orders based entirely on reasons good for company leadership and with no empathy given to the employee would be a hit to employee morale. But maybe it's not obvious and I'm a freaking genius. I would even hazard a guess that the worst years were ones in which the most employees were forced back.

Re:

[nightflameauto]

To me it seemed pretty obvious that back to work orders based entirely on reasons good for company leadership and with no empathy given to the employee would be a hit to employee morale. But maybe it's not obvious and I'm a freaking genius. I would even hazard a guess that the worst years were ones in which the most employees were forced back.

Yeah, the only subtlety, and one I don't see mentioned at all, is that prior to the pandemic years, employers could get by with saying it's impossible to work from home. After a couple years of working from home, being told it's impossible is a tough pill to swallow, yet that seems to be the corporate stance. Mostly because managers don't know what to do with themselves when they don't have the opportunity to continually micro-manage the day-to-day interactions in person. It tells me there are a lot of mana

Re:

[fluffernutter]

To be fair to my manager, he is a decent manager but they recently let go of another manager that helped him with other teams. So now not only does he have twice as many people, he has all kinds of other responsibilities as well, like direct profit seeking responsibilities. His job doesn't sound fun but he is probably continuing to do it because where else is he going to go? All companies always go the same way.

Huh

[sunderland56]

So you're saying that back-to-the-office initiative wasn't popular?

Re:

[fluffernutter]

That's crazy talk. My CEO wants it so it must be right. Id say more but my mouth is full of his dick.

RTO, AI, Layoffs

[XopherMV]

2024 was when employers started implementing return to office across the entire economy. They also started pushing AI everywhere. And, they continued layoffs that started in 2023. Of course this made employees worse off.

Re:

[rickb928]

"And, they continued layoffs they started"

FTFY. Layoffs have been for how long, and where? For centuries, and everywhere.

Sit on us...

[AmazingRuss]

...for we are poor.

How cute.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

It's adorable how they pretend that the 'well being' gap between the people who matter and the ones who don't is some sort of surprise that calls for urgent action; rather than a deliberate outcome carefully achieved.

It's the pandemic-period numbers that are the anomaly, from a period when at times downright existential issues forced people's hands(at least for white collar workers; if you are 'essential' good luck and back to dealing with the public in person); and a lot of work has been put into rectifying that period.

What's next; a comparative analysis of the labor markets of the 1950s and the 1980s that studiously pretends that it's not exactly as Milton Friedman and Neutron Jack intended?

Re:

[Gilmoure]

If you keep firing 10% of labor every year, your quarterly bonuses will be good.

\o/

[easyTree]

Presumably when it gets to zero and keeps going, it wraps around to 100%, right? Keep going tech-bros, we're almost there!

Re:

[gtall]

I think the plan is for AI-bots to buy all the shit for which we used to have money. It allows the rich to bypass the dirty proles. It will be one giant, mutually recursive backscratching exercise.

Re:

[nightflameauto]

I think the plan is for AI-bots to buy all the shit for which we used to have money. It allows the rich to bypass the dirty proles. It will be one giant, mutually recursive backscratching exercise.

One can see a time when most web traffic is bot produced, and the only real income the upper echelon will see is the web advertising revenue, generated by bots, "viewed" by bots, passed between bots, and aggregated by still more bots. Who needs proles when automation can create a giant economic circle-jerk out of what was once an open network filled with easily accessible information?

The Employment Game has Changed

[btroy]

Employers are looking to reduce staff due to reduced economic activity in the U.S. Further, the anticipation that AI will displace a lot of employee positions based on the hype. So they are cutting positions now, but would rather not pay severance. So, make life less pleasant for the employee.
- C-Suite is enjoying large bonuses as the stock market hits new highs. They are getting credit for the work, even if it is a bubble.
- Fewer junior positions needed so less opportunity for the younger out of college.
- Some employees did abuse work from home, so now we all get called in (thanks).
- With new butt in the seat rules, flexibility from the immediate manager is hampered, as the new in office requirements are often very rigid. So, long hours over a weekend do not translate to flexible time off.

all of this adds up to a new less enjoyable norm for the worker bee

This is a good podcast on AI impact

[btroy]

https://open.spotify.com/episo... [spotify.com]

Well being aligns with power

[erice]

The pandemic work from home move gave employees more power while managers and top leaders had a more difficult job as their control over staff was reduced. The decline in the job market and RTO have reduced employee power while making the jobs of management and top leaders easier. So, it is pretty natural that staff will feel reduced well-being while management enjoys a tighter grip on employees and easier hiring. Whoever gains power feels better than the ones who lost.