.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} According to a recent survey, only 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with their jobs. It’s a sad statistic, and should set any decent employer to thinking of ways to pep up the troops. Perhaps a new philodendron in the lobby.

Back in 1987, when an outfit called the Conference Board first conducted this research, 61 percent of the respondents said they were satisfied.

In that bygone era, which apparently was a lot more idyllic than we remember it, “nearly 70 percent said they were interested in their work,” MSNBC reported. Now only 51 percent find their jobs interesting, or far fewer than those who Googled “Tila Tequila” last week at the office.

It may be that we’ve made things too easy. Oh, it’s still a hassle to be employed, no doubt about that. It cuts into the time available for all of those other things we dream of doing, like political activism or competitive badminton.

But we spend a lot of hours watching a computer work its magic rather than fashioning something with our fingerprints on it.

There was a time when most workers literally could point to their accomplishments at the end of the day – shingles on a roof, a barn full of hay or at least a stack of envelopes containing neatly typed business letters.

Now all the real stuff is packed inside hard drives, no more accessible to our senses than northern Greenland, and we’re starting to get the feeling that the computers resent it when we show up in the morning.

You would think that people would appreciate the change. They face less heavy lifting, and they don’t get as dirty. Also, Facebook and YouTube have raised time killing to a level our grandparents could only dream of.

Wait; I shouldn’t have said that. Experts tell us that it’s OK to spend time on Facebook at work. You are hereby instructed not to notice that the rise of social media coincided with the collapse of the American economy.

Anyway, replacing physical effort with hours of staring at a computer can’t be our true destiny. There must be a meaning behind this deep-seated urge to buy two-by-fours. So it’s reassuring to think that Americans want more tangible involvement with their life’s work.

There may be other factors involved in the general malaise, too. The Conference Board found that the greatest level of dissatisfaction exists among the youngest workers. About 64 percent of workers under the age of 25 said they were unhappy in their jobs.

Well, sure. That’s because they’re still comparing real life to college. That’s like comparing a shark attack to a sushi dinner with friends.

In college, you’re surrounded by fun-seekers. Then you find yourself in the working world, surrounded by disillusioned cranks who want to be paid to attend the company Christmas party.

In college, hard work is rewarded with praise and high grades. In the corporate world, hard work is rewarded with more difficult assignments.

Back in 1987, hard work also was rewarded with more money. Now we’re rethinking that concept. We’re looking at a sliding scale that starts with a cordial nod in the hallway and gradually increases to a quarterly shoulder rub. We’ll have to wait for the next survey to see if that helps.

Analysis of the survey results also gets into commute times, health insurance costs and whether people like their co-workers. (Only 56 percent do, compared with 68 percent in 1987. Several mentioned you in particular as a problem, so we probably should talk about that.)

All in all, we’re just not enjoying our careers as much as we should. Maybe it’s because we got our hopes too high.

Wise cultural observers told us that we would be working 30-hour weeks by this point in history, and outlined the fabulous ways in which we all would enjoy our leisure time.

Somebody overpromised, and, boy, did somebody underdeliver.