Workers’ Alienation From Bosses Is Growing, Surveys Find

They like their jobs and even their office mates. But, oh, those bosses.

Perhaps showing the scars from a decade of downsizing, employees say they trust co-workers more than their bosses and feel their companies don’t listen to them, according to two surveys released for Labor Day.

“People are satisfied at work but have mixed feelings about top management,” said Sigal Barsade, assistant professor at the Yale School of Management.

“This may be because of recent downsizing, restructuring or feelings of inequity,” said Barsade, co-author of one of the studies. “People have been hurt,” he said.

Researchers with The Marlin Co., a developer of workplace communication products, surveyed 1,000 workers in the study.

Little more than half of the employees would recommend their company as a good place to work, according to the second survey, in which 9,100 people were questioned by consultants Watson Wyatt.

While 61% of workers are satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs, only 32% feel management makes good and timely decisions, according to the Watson Wyatt survey, which involved workers at all job levels. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points.

Only 35% of workers characterized the level of trust between senior management and employees as favorable, and only 36% said their companies actively seek workers’ opinions.

Just 38% said the information needed to accomplish their work is widely shared.

Asked how they feel at work, 23% of those surveyed by Gallup for The Marlin Co. said they were extremely satisfied, 40% said they were quite satisfied and 26% were somewhat satisfied.

Researchers also found greater skepticism and more anger in the workplace than in the past.

While 51% of workers said last year they weren’t angry at all at work, that figure dropped to 40% this year.

Another 40% this year were a little angry, while 23% were somewhat to extremely mad, according to the survey, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.