Current Economy Impacts Americans’ Definition of the ‘Perfect’ Job …or Does It?

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Some would argue that the economic events of the past 18 months would be the ideal motivator to redefine one’s idea of the “perfect” job, right? Not so fast. A new Randstad Work Watch survey conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs reveals that 83 percent of U.S. adults would not change their personal definition of the perfect job once the economy improves. While the majority wouldn’t change their definition, it should come as no surprise that the most important attributes listed by Americans are good pay (81 percent), interesting and challenging work (66 percent) and health insurance (65 percent). Interestingly, working for a company with a strong corporate social responsibility platform ranked lowest on the list of ideal perfect job attributes (32 percent).

“The survey revealed that just over 61 percent of Americans would be doing what they are currently doing or would be staying in the same field which indicates that most enjoy their jobs, regardless of the impact the economy has made on their jobs.”

“It would be easy to peg the economy for a shift in the definition of the perfect job, but that doesn’t seem to be the case,” stated Eric Buntin, Managing Director of Operations for Randstad. “The survey revealed that just over 61 percent of Americans would be doing what they are currently doing or would be staying in the same field which indicates that most enjoy their jobs, regardless of the impact the economy has made on their jobs.”

When asked what factors will become more or less important in an improved economy, again it is no surprise that good pay rises to the top, with half of those surveyed stating that pay will become more important. With the country paying close attention to the president’s current healthcare reform proposal, health insurance is another top factor, with 44 percent reporting that medical benefits would become more important, while six percent say it would become less important.

Workplace Priorities In An Improved Economy		Good Pay		Health Insurance		Opp to Advance		Great Mgr		Interesting / Challenging Work		Schedule Flexibility		Great Co-workers		Location Flexibility
More Important		50		44		33		31		30		29		29		26
No More or Less Important		46		50		53		59		59		56		61		56
Less Important		4		6		13		10		11		15		11		18

Fewer cited commute time (25 percent), working for a company with a strong corporate social responsibility platform (25 percent), and perks and incentives (23 percent) as factors that will increase in importance when the economy rebounds. In fact, about two in 10 respondents felt that several of these factors will become less important: perks/incentives (23 percent), commute time (20 percent) and location flexibility (18 percent).

While the economy most likely has impacted many Americans’ workload, morale, and possibly even, paycheck, three in 10 of those surveyed (31 percent) say that in their perfect job, they would have more responsibility than they currently have, while just six percent would want less responsibility. Men (36 percent) and Gen Y (43 percent) respondents are among those most eager for more responsibility. Additionally, when asked what would best describe the type of work they would be doing in their perfect job, 39 percent report that they would be doing the same thing. Another 22 percent say that they would stay in their field, but would be filling some other role. Women are more likely than men to say that in their ideal job, they would be doing the same thing that they are now (42 vs. 35 percent), though men are more likely to wish that they had a different job in their current field (26 vs. 19 percent).

Interestingly, the Randstad Work Watch survey found that more than one in five of those surveyed (22 percent) said that their ideal job would entail a completely different line of work.

No perfect job would be complete without perks. When asked which perks would be offered at their perfect job, Americans overwhelmingly stated five weeks of vacation (81 percent) followed by free lunch (56 percent) and a lifetime gym membership (40 percent).

Additional interesting Randstad Work Watch survey findings include:

• Only 18 percent of those surveyed would want a sabbatical as a perk of their ideal job.
• Men are more likely than are women to report that several attributes will grow in importance once the economy improves, including good pay (54 percent vs. 46 percent); opportunity for advancement (39 percent vs. 28 percent); and having interesting/challenging work (35 percent vs. 25 percent).
• Matures (38 percent), more so than any other generation, report that interesting/challenging work will become more important in an improved economy (Gen Y = 26 percent, Gen X = 27 percent, Boomers = 31 percent).
• Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed report that having a great manager is no more or less important in an improved economy.

For more information please contact Holly Richmond at holly.richmond@mslworldwide.com or 404-877-5533.

Abbreviated Survey Methodology

For the survey, a national sample of 1,008 adults aged 18 and older from Ipsos’ U.S. online panel were interviewed online from August 28 to September 1, 2009. Weighting was then employed to balance demographics and ensure that the sample's composition reflects that of the U.S. adult population according to Census data and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe. A survey with an unweighted probability sample of this size and a 100% response rate would have an estimated margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points 19 times out of 20 of what the results would have been had the entire adult population of adults aged 18 and older in the United States had been polled.

About Randstad US

Randstad US is a wholly owned subsidiary of Randstad Holding nv, a $24 billion global provider of professional employment services and the second largest staffing organization in the world. Randstad fulfills all aspects of commercial and professional staffing for local and global customers. Services include temporary, permanent, and outsourced placement within Accounting & Finance, Engineering, Healthcare, Industrial, IT, Legal, Life Sciences, and Office. Other offerings include payrolling, managed services, recruitment process outsourcing and HR consulting solutions. Randstad provides skills assessments, career counseling, training, health coverage, paid vacation and 401(k) matching contributions to eligible internal and external employees. With its 3,300 employment experts, Randstad puts an average of 50,000 people to work in the U.S. each week through its network of more than 600 branches and client-dedicated locations. More information is available at the company’s Web site, www.us.randstad.com.

Investment information is available at www.randstad.com.

About Ipsos Public Affairs

Ipsos Public Affairs is a non-partisan, objective, survey-based research practice which conducts strategic research initiatives for a diverse number of American and international organizations, based on public opinion research. They are the international polling agency of record for Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. To learn more, visit: www.ipsos-pa.com.