Not just the Trump Jobs Slump, but also the Meaningful Jobs Slump. Most Americans say their jobs lack quality

[ck4829]

A new workplace report is saying the quiet part out loud—most Americans do not hold quality jobs. Only 40% of U.S. workers hold roles that provide financial well-being, a voice in workplace decisions and opportunities for growth at safe and respectful workplaces where they hold some control over their work, according to the study led by Gallup.

“For too long we’ve been reliant on data that counts the number of jobs being created and earnings, but there are big question marks around the quality of jobs,” says Maria Flynn, president and CEO of Jobs for the Future, which also worked on the study. “Even when the economy was doing well, you’d hear about workers being discouraged and disillusioned.”

Quality was described by five different components: financial well-being; workplace culture and safety; growth and development opportunities; agency and voice; and work structure and autonomy. A role must meet the minimum threshold of at least three of the categories to be considered a quality job.

The study, a collaboration between Gallup, Jobs for the Future, The Families & Workers Fund and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for employment research, surveyed 18,429 U.S. adults aged 18 to 75 who worked for pay in the prior seven days. It was conducted between January 13 and February 25 this year, and is the first survey of this size to put these measures of employee experience together.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mariagraciasantillanalinares/2025/10/16/majority-of-americans-lack-quality-jobs-report-finds/

It is bad enough that we are experiencing a jobs slump and record-low hiring, but this really matters more to our country's well-being. No, it's not enough to have a job, but to have no meaning or passion with that job, it's an attack on our spirits. How many people have a job means one thing, but it is the very soul of this country and its people is in decline as this lack of quality goes up.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. In the 1990s corporations flattened the hierarchy. Responsibilities were pushed downward

onto workers and there were fewer managers. Now computers are reclaiming responsibilities from the workers.