A recent survey finds 38% consider their jobs to be of low or medium quality. And those workers are less likely than those in high-quality jobs (64% to 86%) to feel they have access to resources to find better employment.

More than one in four workers (28%) has considered leaving their job every month for the last year. The survey says, “Black workers, workers with less experience, low-medium quality job holders, and unvalued employees attest to considering leaving their current jobs most often.”

The survey of 2,199 adults was commissioned earlier this month by Jobs for the Future (JFF). The data are weighted to “approximate a target sample of adults based on age, gender, race, educational attainment, region, gender by age, and race by educational attainment.”

Findings indicate workers in high-quality jobs are consistently more likely to feel productive, content, energized, happy, and optimistic. Workers in high-quality jobs (43%) feel their “education and career pathway helped me achieve a quality job” – versus 15% of workers in low-medium quality jobs.

Those working in high-quality jobs are more likely than those in low-medium quality jobs to feel they have equitable opportunity for good jobs, know how to move into quality jobs, and have the needed skills to advance into those jobs.

Thirty percent of adults say higher wages would positively impact job quality, but 70% also note a combination of non-wage conditions that would make their jobs better. These include “better work-life balance, flexible scheduling, more paid time off, a safer workplace, and the option to work from home.”

Read more about JFF’s 2023 Quality Jobs Survey Highlights.