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New Report Reveals Most American Jobs Fall Short of “Quality” Standards
A groundbreaking new study, spearheaded by Gallup, has unveiled a stark reality: a significant majority of American workers do not hold what can be considered “quality jobs.” The report indicates that only 40% of U.S. employees are in roles that provide adequate financial well-being, offer a voice in workplace decisions, foster opportunities for growth, and exist within safe and respectful environments where workers maintain some control over their tasks.
“For too long, we’ve relied on data that simply counts the number of jobs created and earnings, but there are big question marks around the quality of those jobs,” stated Maria Flynn, president and CEO of Jobs for the Future, a key collaborator on the study. “Even when the economy was doing well, you’d hear about workers being discouraged and disillusioned.”
The study defined a quality job across five critical components: financial well-being; workplace culture and safety; growth and development opportunities; agency and voice; and work structure and autonomy. To meet the “quality” threshold, a role needed to satisfy at least three of these categories.
This extensive survey, a collaboration between Gallup, Jobs for the Future, The Families & Workers Fund, and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, gathered data from 18,429 U.S. adults aged 18 to 75 who had been employed for pay in the seven days prior to the survey. Conducted between January 13 and February 25 of this year, it marks the first time such a comprehensive set of employee experience measures has been combined on this scale.
While this report represents a pioneering effort in its scope, economists have previously raised concerns about the state of the American workforce. Earlier Gallup polling this year showed that only 32% of employees are actively engaged at work, a slight increase from a decade-low in January. The impact of this disengagement on businesses is tangible, with another Gallup study finding that companies with engaged workforces demonstrate higher earnings per share and improved employee retention, leading to reduced talent acquisition costs.
These findings emerge at a time when the labor market has shown signs of stalling. In August, the last full month for which government data is available, only 22,000 jobs were added, partly due to the shutdown.
Concurrently, quit rates in August dropped to 1.9%, the lowest since November 2024. This trend has led to the coining of “job hugging” among workplace experts, as employees increasingly hold onto their current positions and employers re-evaluate their hiring strategies.
“It feels like we’re at a breaking point when you look at any of those statistics individually,” remarked Pete Stavros, co-head of global private equity at KKR, who had early access to the data.
The report suggests that focusing on job quality may help explain the widespread sense of a “breaking point” felt by both workers and employers, particularly in light of low worker engagement and satisfaction scores. While acknowledging that ideal work environments vary across industries, roles, and individuals, the five dimensions of job quality are designed to be applicable to all types of jobs, from knowledge-based to frontline positions.
For each dimension, researchers utilized specific quantitative measures in their quality assessment. For instance, financial well-being was evaluated based on factors such as stable employment, workplace benefits, and fair pay, defined as workers earning more than 300% of the federal poverty level for a family of two ($5,287.50 per month).
Beyond monetary compensation, the overall workplace experience is crucial to job quality. Having agency over one’s work-whether in scheduling, in-office presence, or even aligning work with the company’s mission-has become an increasingly important measure, particularly for Generation Z.
This emphasis on flexibility and control may shed light on the disparity in quality jobs between W2 and non-W2 workers. The study found that 39% of all full-time and part-time W2 employees hold quality jobs, compared to 46% of non-W2 workers (including independent contractors, self-employed individuals, or informal workers).
“It says a lot about how much workers value flexibility and being able to design a work schedule that works for them,” Flynn noted.
American workers are also increasingly prioritizing career advancement and growth opportunities, a trend amplified by the potential for AI to eliminate certain roles. The report revealed that 45% of employees who participated in employer-provided training, such as upskilling programs or mentorship, were highly satisfied with their jobs, in contrast to only 27% of those who did not participate.
While there are positive outcomes for the minority of workers who do hold quality jobs, the reality for the 60% who do not is significantly different. “This is everything that lots of everyday Americans experience and know to be the truth, which is there’s a lack of good jobs,” added Stavros.