Nine in 10 workers 50 and older are satisfied with their jobs

Oscar Martinez, 77, has worked at Disneyland for nearly 60 years. He said he loves his job as a chef at the Anaheim amusement park.

By Ricardo Lopez

Oct. 28, 2013 12:15 PM PT

Nine out of 10 workers ages 50 and older say they’re happy in their jobs, a proportion much higher than younger adult workers, according to a recent survey.

Of that share, 65% said they were “very satisfied” with their jobs, according to a recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. The remaining 26% reported just being “satisfied” with work.

The reasons vary but workers polled said that by the time they hit 50, many have already climbed the career ladder, increased their salaries and have better job security.

“Overall, we found that workers were satisfied with their jobs,” said Jennifer Benz, a senior research scientist at the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. “We found that there seemed to be more specific positive things going on in their careers. People said that colleagues turned to them for advice, that they get more respect at work.”

Those results applied to workers regardless of education, race and other demographic factors.

The results from the survey come from a larger study of older workers. The AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs also found that many Americans are retiring later.

The poll also found that those working past age 50 haven’t necessarily reduced how many hours they work per week. Almost 80% reported not cutting hours. A similar proportion also said they haven’t tried to take on fewer physically demanding tasks.

Those actions were a little bit surprising, Benz said. But that’s in line with the report’s finding that many older workers said their age was not an issue in their workplace.

Still, for those on the job hunt, 55% said they found their employment search to be difficult. Forty-five percent said they felt they were “too old” for available jobs.

The survey was conducted between Aug. 8 and Sept. 10 and included 1,024 respondents.

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