NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
You know you shouldn't complain. Just having work these days is a bonus. But even for those lucky enough to have a job, there is still much to be desired.
A recent survey by recruiting and outsourcing firm Spherion found that just over 50 percent of respondents would like to change jobs, most within the next 12 months if they can.
Here are just a few of the downers for U.S. workers today.
Meager raises: You may be working harder but you don't figure you'll be earning much more. In fact, surveys have shown that pay raises this year and next will be small at best – under 4 percent for the third year in a row.
And while your raise may outpace the official inflation rate by a small amount, if you own a home or car, buy groceries or have cable, you know inflation is far from dead. Homeowners insurance and property taxes have been on the rise, as have phone and cable rates, and the cost of cereal and bakery products are higher.
Less-beneficial benefits: Also far outpacing inflation and pay raises has been the increase in premiums for health care coverage.
Out-of-pocket contributions rose 27 percent for employees seeking single coverage and 16 percent for employees seeking family coverage, according to a 2002 Kaiser Family Foundation survey. At the same time, employers have been offering plans with higher deductibles and copayments.
On top of that, a few employers have been cutting their 401(k) matches.
Longer hours, less vacation: Heavy-handed layoffs at their companies have left a lot of workers with increased workloads and a sense that their well-being is not a prime consideration for their employers.
Eighty-six percent of respondents in the Spherion survey said work fulfillment and work/life balance are their No. 1 career priority. And the survey found 96 percent of workers would prefer to work for companies that can offer a better work/life balance.
Part of that balance, of course, can come from vacation time. But according to a survey from Expedia.com, Americans are taking 10 percent less vacation time this year than they did a year ago – and even that wasn't very much. What's more, 12 percent said they take no time at all.
One in five respondents cited guilt about taking time away from work, while seven out of 10 respondents said they don't feel they have a healthy balance between work and personal life. (For reasons why you should take your vacation, click here.)
So will it always be this way?
No one can predict when the labor market will turn around, giving employees a bit more power in their job negotiations.
But when the economy does grow enough to start producing job opportunities again, there may be a number of employees ready to walk, according to the Spherion survey. "That's where the wake-up call is for employers," said Spherion President Robert Morgan.
That's why he cautions employers not to confuse their high employee retention rates today with worker satisfaction. Employers who are smart, he said, won't wait for an exodus to start creating better retention strategies.
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