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I keep hearing the statistic "80% of people work at a job they dislike".

  • Make Dogs Your Life3

    80% of People Hate Their Job – Are You One of Them?

  • Business Insider

    Most people -- 80% according to Deloitte’s Shift Index survey -- are dissatisfied with their jobs.

  • DNA India

    80% people hate their jobs but are too scared to quit

This certainly seems like it needs some qualifiers, for example what is the population? How was the survey conducted?

Are these statistics reliable?

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    Also to note is the vagueness of the term "hate" when used in contexts such as these. Often times writers really mean "dislike" but use "hate" to make it more sensational. Using the term "hate" in this way lends to black-and-white thinking that detracts from clarity and editorial honesty.
    – Michael
    Jan 22, 2016 at 6:13
  • "U.S. workers are generally not passionate about their professions: 80 percent of the U.S. workforce (ranging from 73 to 82 percent depending on the industry) reported not being passionate about work". This quote is present in the 2010 Deloitte shift index survey job satisfaction document present here-www.edgeperspectives.com/ShiftIndex2010.pdf, however could not find the reference for that statistic. Another survey has a completely different number-fastcoexist.com/3021789/…!
    – pericles316
    Jan 22, 2016 at 10:23
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    @Michael And what counts as "dislike" or "hate" - not liking one or more aspect of a job might be counted as not liking the job.
    – user2276
    Jan 25, 2016 at 3:28
  • @HorusKol -- I agree. It would be possible yet dishonest to extrapolate one specific measurement as representing the whole of possible measurements, which essentially would put words into the respondents' mouths.
    – Michael
    Jan 25, 2016 at 4:32
  • I'm not sure why my initial comment was deleted, given that it demonstrated that there is no notable claim here.
    – user18604
    Jan 25, 2016 at 10:11

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No, in fact, according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, 2015 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement: Optimizing Organizational Culture for Success

In 2014, 86% of U.S. employees reported overall satisfaction with their current job, an improvement of five percentage points since 2013; of this group, 39% reported being “very satisfied” and 47% “somewhat satisfied.”

Note that the India article linked in the OP, cites to the Daily Express of the UK, which actually reported that 80% feared losing their job, which is of course much different than hating their job.

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  • Is the Society for Human Resource Management neutral and non-bias?
    – Celeritas
    Feb 5, 2016 at 22:39

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