Job satisfaction is the highest it has been since the Conference Board began surveying workers in 1987, particularly among those who voluntarily switched jobs during the pandemic and those working in hybrid roles, The Wall Street Journal reported.

“U.S. workers have never been more content,” stated the Conference Board’s Job Satisfaction 2023 report. “The largest gains occurred in 'experience of work' components such as work/life balance, workload, and performance review processes.”

More than 62 percent of U.S. workers said they were satisfied with their jobs, up from 60.2 percent in 2021 and 56.8 percent in 2020, the survey found after polling workers on 26 aspects of work.

The survey found that women were significantly less satisfied than men across almost all 26 aspects, and it cautioned firms to make efforts to identify and address issues such as pay equity. The survey found that 61.8 percent of women were satisfied with their job security, compared with 68.7 percent of men.

Overall, work experience and culture are the most influential factors in employee retention, aside from competitive pay, the survey reported.

The Journal story noted that the survey of 1,680 workers was conducted in November, before waves of layoffs at high-profile companies and concerns about a potential recession. While unemployment remains low, a recent decline in job openings suggests that workers have fewer options and might be feeling more anxious about their job security, Conference Board senior economist Selcuk Eren told the Journal.

The organization predicted that a short, shallow recession will occur later this year and that unemployment will rise to 4.4 percent from the current 3.4 percent by the first quarter of 2024.

“Once unemployment goes up, once we hit a recession, there will be fewer people changing jobs they were unhappy with,” Eren said.

Still, “[m]idcareer people, people with kids, seem to be benefiting a lot” from recent shifts in work, especially hybrid and remote arrangements that allow for better work-life balance, Brad Hershbein, senior economist at the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, told the Journal. He also said that pay increases have been more pronounced in lower-wage jobs such as warehousing, retail and restaurants, improving many workers’ views of those jobs.