Most Americans aren’t happy in their jobs. Indeed, only 14% say they have the perfect job in a new survey commissioned by the online University of Phoenix, as reported by Reuters recently.

The piece goes on to discuss how dissatisfaction often leads to career changes, something I discuss and recommend in Always Be Job Hunting.

Found that dream job yet? Most haven’t.

“It is not uncommon for working adults to consider one or multiple career changes,” Dr. Bill Pepicello, the president of the University of Phoenix, said in a statement announcing the results,” Reuters reports.

“Choosing one career path after high school or college and sticking with it for the rest of a career is becoming less common as the pace of business and technology quickly change jobs and industries.,” Reuters quotes Pepicello saying.

“Nearly 80 percent of workers in their 20s said they wanted to change careers, followed by 64 percent of 30-somethings and 54 percent in their 40s,” Reuters reports.

Surprised? Not me. Work today has become more and more depersonalized with offices giving way to vast white-collar factory floors that looks like giant call centers.

Any signs that you actually belong in a place, like your own office that you can decorate, or even a cubicle and desk for family pictures, are giving way to today’s open office concept where no one has a permanent seat or sense of belonging.

If you are happy in what you do — read that to mean feeling fulfilled and recognized — then by all means stay there. Finding such jobs is a major challenge in today’s workplace.

If you’re not, know it’s not you, you’re one of many. Time for you to Always Be Job Hunting.
John N. Frank