Key findings:
- Despite headline-generating layoffs in tech, 59% of workers aren’t concerned they or others in their household will lose their jobs in the near term
- Three quarters of workers say their company is prepared to handle a recession if it were to occur
- Inflation concerns continue to run high: 67% say the biggest threat to their job is an economic downturn, up 7 points from June 2019 (60%)
- Worker morale reaches a new high: 72% say the morale among their coworkers is either “excellent” or “good”
- Workers in over- or under-staffed companies are increasingly likely to consider quitting
Majority of workers dismiss layoff concerns
Despite some high-profile layoffs at Twitter, Meta, and Amazon, most workers (59%) aren’t concerned that they or someone in their household will be laid off or lose their job in the next few months, according to the latest CNBC|Momentive Workforce Survey. More than a quarter (26%) aren’t concerned at all about potential layoffs.
Yet, not all workers are dismissing layoffs: 57% of Asians, 53% of Hispanics and 47% of Blacks are concerned that layoffs may impact their household compared with just 33% of white workers and 43% of workers of another race.
- 47% of workers earning less than $50,000 are concerned that they or someone in their household will be laid off or lose their job – the highest across all income groups (37% of those earning between $50,000-$99,999; 30% of those earning between $100,000-$150,000 and 25% of those earning more than $150,000 say the same)
- Women workers are slightly more likely than men to be concerned about layoffs affecting their household (41% vs. 38%)
- Tech workers are more likely than average to be worried, but not drastically so: 44% say they are concerned about layoffs impacting their household, compared with 45% among Transportation & Delivery workers, and 44% among workers in each of the following industries: Personal Service, Advertising & Marketing, Business Support & Logistics, and Automotive.
As layoff concerns remain low, workers are confident in their ability to find a new job: 80% of workers say that if they lost their current job it would take them 6 months or less to find a new job with similar pay, including more than a third (36%) who say they could find a new job with similar pay in less than a month.
Yet, remote workers are less confident: just 24% of those working fully remotely say that if they lost their current job they could find a new job with similar pay in less than a month – nearly half the number of fully in-person employees who say the same (41%).
Workplace satisfaction plays key role in whether workers think their company can handle a recession
As most workers dismiss layoff concerns, the overwhelming majority (74%) say their company is prepared to handle a recession if one were to occur. Over a quarter (27%) of workers say their company is “very prepared” to weather a potential recession. This remains true across nearly all groups of workers, regardless of age, race, industry or job level.
Yet, workplace happiness plays a major role in workers’ beliefs that their company can handle a recession: 86% of those who say the overall morale at their company is “excellent” say their company is prepared to handle a recession, more than double the number of those who say the moral at their company is poor (42%).
Similarly, those who are satisfied with their current job are far more likely than those who are dissatisfied with their job to say their company is prepared to weather a recession (79% vs. 49%).
Worker morale reaches an all-time high
The overwhelming majority (72%) of workers say the overall morale among their coworkers is either “excellent” or “good”, up three points from May 2022 (69%). Morale is up among nearly all workers, regardless of gender, race or job level.
This uptick in morale comes as most workers (42%) say they’re “thriving” at work these days, roughly unchanged from October of last year (42%). Just 37% say they’re “coasting” at work while even fewer (18%) say they’re “struggling”.
Overall, our Workforce Happiness Index increased by one point to a score of 72 out of a possible 100, with a couple of the five index components experiencing a slightly positive shift since May.
- 63% of workers say they have excellent or good opportunities to advance their careers at their places of work, a new high across all previous Workforce surveys
- 84% of workers think their contributions are valued a lot or some by their colleagues, up slightly from May
- 91% of workers in the U.S. consider their job to be very or somewhat meaningful to them
- 85% of workers have a lot or some autonomy over how they do their job, unchanged from May
- 73% of workers consider themselves to be very or somewhat well paid for the work they do
Workers in over- or under-staffed companies increasingly look to quit
More workers now (48%) than before say their company is adequately staffed, a 6-point increase from October 2021 (42%). Slightly fewer (45%) say their company is understaffed while nearly no one says their company is overstaffed (5%).
- Some industries are still facing staffing shortages: 62% of government workers say their company is understaffed, followed closely by workers in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry (55%), the airline industry (52%) and the nonprofit industry (51%).
Over and understaffing issues continue to pose attrition threats: 57% of those who say their company is overstaffed have seriously considered quitting in the last three months, up nine points from October 2021 (48%). Those in understaffed companies are more likely to look to quitting too: 46% of workers in understaffed companies say they’ve seriously considered quitting in the last three months, also up slightly from October 2021 (43%).
Overall, 36% of workers say they’ve seriously considered quitting their job in the last three months, down slightly from the all-time high seen in May (39%), but still higher than any previous iteration of our CNBC|Momentive Workforce survey.
Inflation concerns continue to run high
Two-thirds of workers (67%) say the biggest threat to their job is an economic downturn, up 7 points from June 2019 (60%). Economic concerns far outpace the threat of outsourcing (18%) or automation (11%). Fears of an economic downtown have increased among nearly all workers, regardless of race, income or industry.
- Older adults harbor the most concern for the economy: 75% of those age 65 and up say the biggest threat to their job is an economic downturned compared with just 58% of those 18-24.
- Higher-income households are most worried about the economy: 77% of those in households earning more than $150,000 say an economic downturn is the biggest threat – the highest across all income brackets
Threats of economic downturn loom higher over certain industries: 83% of workers in real estate, 78% of those in hospitality and tourism, 76% of those in agriculture and 76% of those in construction say an economic downturn is the biggest threat to their job.
Amid ongoing inflation, workers continue to say inflation has increased more than their salary (66%), unchanged from May (66%). Just 20% say their salary has kept pace with inflation while slightly fewer (13%) say their salary has increased more than inflation.
- 74% of those who’ve considered quitting in the past three months say inflation has outpaced their salary compared with 62% who haven’t considered quitting
- Workers in the real estate and agriculture sectors are among the most likely to say their salary has increased more than inflation
Read more about our polling methodology here.
Click through all the results in the interactive toplines below:
SEE SIMILAR STORIES IN ...
Read more articles by Momentive
Momentive study: AI in education
College students embrace AI in school, but fear its impact on their education and job prospects after graduation.
May 19 • 3 min read
Read more
Momentive study: consumer expectations in CX
Companies’ customer experiences are often misaligned with consumer perceptions and expectations.
May 12 • 1 min read
Read more