Independent Workers Have Higher Satisfaction Levels than Traditional Job Holders

The Conference Board recently released survey results that found "51 percent of U.S. employees feel overall satisfied with their job."

This is quite a bit lower than the level reported by independent workers in the 2018 MBO Partners State of Independence study. It found 72% of independent workers report being satisfied.

The two studies asked slightly different satisfaction questions. The Conference Board asked:

 “To what extent are you satisfied with your current job?”

The MBO Partners survey asked:

"Please rate your overall satisfaction with being an independent worker."

These questions are close enough, we think, for a directional comparison. And it's clear more independent workers are satisfied than those with traditional jobs.

These results are also consistent with our past studies where we've asked both independent workers and those with traditional jobs the same question about how satisfied they are.

In those studies independent workers have consistently reported higher levels of satisfaction than traditional job holders.

Based on our broader research, and the research of others, we think this is due to the work flexibility, autonomy and control most independent workers have.

This is reinforced in the Conference Board Study. They found traditional job holders making $75,000 a year or more have higher satisfaction levels than those earning less. They attribute this in part to higher earners having more control over their work.

Key quote from the Wall Street Journal article on the study, U.S. Workers Report Highest Job Satisfaction Since 2005 on the higher earning job holders:

“These are higher-skilled workers, managers, and they tend to have more control over their day-to-day work activities,” said Rebecca Ray, leader of The Conference Board’s human capital practice. “Having more control can drive a lot of how you feel about the job.”

As you can see from the Wall Street Journal chart below, the differences in satisfaction for traditional job holders is quite large.

      

In our work we've found only modest differences between the satisfaction levels of low and high income independent workers.

We think this is because many lower earning independents report having work flexibility, autonomy and control.  We've also found in our work having these tightly correlates with independent worker satisfaction - and is a much stronger indicator of satisfaction than income is.

But relatively few lower earning traditional jobholders have these. 

So it makes sense that satisfaction level differences are greater between higher earning and lower earning traditional workers than for higher and lower earning independent workers.

And it also makes sense that independent workers overall have higher levels of satisfaction. This is due to more of them having work flexibility, autonomy and control.

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