Underemployment Survey: Half of Workers Feel Overqualified for Their Jobs

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Posted Oct 11, 2012
Anne Pilon

Most people know about the impact the economic downturn has had on the amount of Americans who are unemployed. But many working Americans have also been impacted negatively by the economy. How many working Americans are happy with their current employment situation? How many people work in the industry where they received training? And how many feel they are underemployed?

underemployment

Employment

In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, 29% of respondents said that they are currently employed and happy with their jobs. 15% said that they are currently unemployed but they are satisfied with that. 19% said they are currently employed but they are not satisfied with their jobs. And 38% of respondents said that they are not currently employed and they are not satisfied with it.

Training

51% of working Americans said that they feel they are overqualified for their current position. Those who work part-time were 4% more likely to feel that they are overqualified. Just 18% said that their current job definitely relates to their education or training after high school. 27% said that their job somewhat relates to their post-high school training. 45% said that their job does not relate at all to their education or training. And just 10% of working Americans said they did not receive any training or education after high school.

Underemployment

Amount of hours and compensation is another area where some Americans might feel unhappy. 57% said that they are satisfied with the amount of hours they work per week. 22% said they feel they work too many hours. And another 22% said they work too few hours for their liking. Americans whose jobs relate to their education or training were 8% more likely to be happy with their work schedule. And 47% of part-time workers said they wish they could work more hours per week.You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: Jamba Juice Buy from FlickrWhat do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.

Results were collected on October 10, 2012 via AYTM’s online survey panel.

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