The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), an international association of HR professionals, found 80 percent of workers liked their jobs. Sirota Consulting, a New York-based attitude research company, reported a satisfaction rate of 76 percent. Harris Interactive is one of several companies reporting less positive findings. A market research firm, it found 41 per cent disliked their jobs. The Conference Board, a management advisory organization, placed the satisfied figure at 50 percent in one poll and much lower in another. Conducted for the Conference Board by research agency TNS, it said 25 percent of American workers admitted they are just "showing up for a paycheck."

Addressing the individual factors, the SHRM poll showed 63 percent of employees regarded benefits such health insurance as the No. 1 factor in job satisfaction. Wages followed, at 61 percent. Work/life issues, such as flexibility, were in third place at 60 percent, closely followed by job security in fourth place.

A separate ongoing TNS survey of 800,000 employees at 61 companies worldwide – with two-thirds in the United States – links job satisfaction to how many tasks the employee has. Employees who have enough or too much work are more satisfied (73 percent) than those who have too little (32 percent.)

The Sirota survey revealed excessive bureaucracy as the biggest barrier to satisfaction for the majority of employees (62 percent.) The second-biggest barrier was people who focus more effort on assigning blame than on solving problems (59 percent.)

Employees weren’t asked for a thumbs up or down on their job in one other survey by Harris Interactive, which nonetheless uncovered two other influential factors. Published in June by USA Today, "Job satisfaction is partially the result of how prestigious your profession is … " the study looked outside the usual gauges, such as wages and benefits, and found the link described in the article title.

Harris Interactive noted that accountants, real estate agents, lawyers and journalists fare badly in the prestige stakes. Teachers, priests and engineers fare slightly better. The study explained that firefighter and scientist can speak proudly of their work these days, an observation supported by University of Michigan research presented in 2004 at the American Psychological Society convention. It found the most satisfied workers were those who felt they had a positive impact on others.

Job prestige and satisfaction may also rely on business success, which can be ephemeral, according to the study. It noted the probable difference in prestige of working at Enron in 1999 vs. 2001.

High employee morale has been shown to deliver significant ergonomic and economic benefits. Created partly by the perception of outsiders, prestige may be difficult to boost, but employers have considerable control over the other factors in job satisfaction. The full versions of the surveys on the pollster websites add up to profitable reading.

Sources: The Society for Human Resource Management; Sirota Consulting; The Conference Board; TNS; Harris Interactive; USA Today