Last night on WGBH TV’s Greater Boston with Emily Rooney I was invited to be on a panel discussing a new survey that shows record numbers of people are unhappy with their jobs. The Conference Board’s poll, widely reported yesterday in every major publication, concludes that “Americans of all ages and income brackets continue to grow increasingly unhappy at work.”

The survey is based on the responses of 2,900 American workers asked to rate how satisfied they are at work, on a scale of 1 to 5. 45% say they are satisfied with their jobs, and according to the Conference Board, that’s a trend -in 1987, 61% said they were satisfied. The decline spanned all age groups, although young people under 25 were the least satisfied.

Do you buy it? Here’s something interesting - it turns out this data is in complete conflict with Gallup Polls taken every August from 1989 to 2009, in which 85 to 94 percent of people say they are completely or somewhat satisfied with their jobs. As Mark Twain once said, “There are lies, there are damn lies, and then, there are statistics.”

Certainly, a lot of people complain about their jobs. But that’s always been the case. Recently, other surveys have shown that people are more satisfied because they’re grateful to HAVE a job in this economy. So I guess it all depends on how you ask the questions, doesn’t it?

The bigger question isn’t whether AMERICANS are satisfied, but whether YOU are satisfied. You deserve to be engaged in work that you find rewarding, interesting and meaningful. Work is the way most of us express our purpose and passion. If you aren’t inspired, it’s time to figure out why. Work is like marriage - you can fall in love again. Or, you can move on. But do you real want to stay stuck? Or do you want to get up and look forward to your day?

I think this is a two-pronged issue. It’s about both employees and employers. Take responsibility for your own happiness. And then, seek out an employer that creates an environment where everyone in the organization knows that what they are doing matters. Employers do need to understand what motivates people. They need to communicate the importance of even routine work to the overall goals. And they need to appreciate people for contributing their talent and energy.

In the meantime, get in touch with what you love to do and tell your boss. You can’t possibly expect him or her to read your mind. Understand the overall goals and priorities so that you can seize opportunities to get involved in projects that will move the organization forward. There’s no better way to get recognized and rewarded, and be satisfied in your work.

The Conference Board survey, by the way, blames lower job satisfaction not so much on employees but employers. They say it correlates with the fact that companies have dropped or cut pension benefits and asked employees to contribute more to health care. In addition, they point out that wage growth has been relatively stagnant. Again, I believe that these are factors, but other surveys show that if people feel their needs are being met, the real determinants of satisfaction are other factors like flexibility to do the job your way.

Ironically, the two-decade decline in happiness has coincided with substantial increases in worker productivity. Gains in the tech sector have ensured that even as workers become more unhappy, they have become more productive. This is another reason I think you need to take all this with a grain of salt. How much of productivity is related to employee engagement, and how much to technological advances that make it simpler to get a job done in one hour instead of eight? Who’s knows?

Still it’s a fascinating topic. Thanks to Emily for inviting me on the show. Here’s a link to the segment on WGBH TV: www.wgbh.org/programs/programDetail.cfm?programid=11

Here’s a link to the Washington Post article that discusses the conflicting results of polls on job satisfaction. www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/05/AR2010010503977