Top 5 Drivers of Job Satisfaction in 2025—and What to Do About Them

After 15 years of incremental improvements, job satisfaction among U.S. workers reached a historic high in 2025. According to The Conference Board’s latest Job Satisfaction survey, satisfaction and engagement jumped a remarkable 5.6% since 2023—marking the largest single-year increase since the survey began in 1987.

Taking into account both worker satisfaction and employee engagement, the survey asked respondents to rate 27 individual elements of work experience related to job satisfaction (wages, benefits, flexibility, equipment, etc.) and engagement (workplace culture, quality of leadership, relationships with co-workers, feelings of belonging, etc.). While every one of the elements measured in the survey showed gains in 2025, five factors stand out as the strongest predictors of overall satisfaction and engagement: interest in work, quality of leadership (senior leaders and front-line leaders), organizational culture, workload, and recognition.

Surprisingly, each of these elements speaks to the experience of work itself, not compensation or perks, as one would typically expect.  There is no doubt that competitive pay and benefits matter; once those are in place, though, leaders aiming to drive retention, productivity, and engagement should look at ways to improve in the areas listed in this year’s “Big Five”:

1. Interest in Work: Meaning Over Money

The single strongest predictor of job satisfaction and engagement in 2025 is interest in the work itself. Workers who find their tasks engaging, purposeful, and aligned with their skills, the “higher order” rewards of employment as described in the report, are far more likely to report high satisfaction and intent to stay with the organization—even if they’re not in the highest-paying roles.

This finding aligns with broader shifts in worker expectations. Regardless of industry or income bracket, employees are signaling that fulfillment matters as much—if not more—than pay. Of the survey respondents that intended to leave their job within the next six months, there was a 32-point satisfaction gap for their interest at work compared to their counterparts that had either already left their job or had no plan to leave.

2. Quality of Leadership: The Multiplier Effect

Closely following interest in work is quality of leadership, which continues to exert a substantial influence on how workers feel about their jobs. It’s more than simply visionary executives—day-to-day leadership from frontline managers plays a key role in shaping trust, communication, and organizational clarity.

Faith in the performance review process, promotion policy improvements, and feedback systems also rose significantly in the 2025 report, indicating that companies have invested in strengthening people management capabilities. This is demonstrably paying off in satisfaction, and, given its typical correlation with employee engagement, it’s likely influencing retention as well as discretionary effort, i.e.: “going above and beyond.”

3. Organizational Culture: Still the North Star

In a world where flexible work is a baseline expectation and no longer a perk, organizational culture is emerging as a differentiator. In 2025, culture ranked third in predictive importance for job satisfaction and first by a wide margin for workers aged 18–24, indicating its importance in long-term strategic development, talent cultivation, and succession planning.

The rise of hybrid work makes culture even more crucial—and more challenging. Employees want to feel connected to their organization’s mission and values, even if they’re not physically present every day. According to the report, hybrid workers remain the most satisfied and most likely to stay versus fully remote or fully on-site arrangements. This is likely due to the fact that hybrid work captures the benefits of both working remotely and in-person.

4. Workload: Balance Over Burnout

After years of pandemic-induced overwork and stress, employees are placing renewed emphasis on workload. It’s now the fourth most important predictor of job satisfaction, reflecting workers’ desire for sustainable performance expectations and healthy boundaries. As was seen with organizational culture, workers desire flexibility, which can come with greater control over their workload to balance with their responsibilities outside of work and the stage of life they are in.

Interestingly, satisfaction with workload improved significantly in 2025—by 6.5 percentage points—suggesting that some employers are starting to get this right. However, the concern remains particularly salient for older workers and women, who continue to report less satisfaction with many workload-related elements. This is likely due to the increased responsibilities outside of work for those demographics, particularly when it comes to women as caregivers and older workers finding themselves in the “Sandwich Generation.”

5. Recognition: A Catalyst for Belonging and Growth

Finally, the fifth major driver of satisfaction and engagement is non-financial recognition, especially for mid-career workers and those prioritizing growth. Recognition improved by 6.2 percentage points in 2025—the sixth highest gain across all 27 elements measured.

Employees want to be seen. Whether it’s praise for a job well done, acknowledgment of effort, or celebration of progress, recognition reinforces contribution and belonging. This goes beyond recognition from leadership, too. Employees also appreciate recognition from their colleagues, highlighting the importance of incorporating appreciation into the larger organizational culture.

Turning Insights Into Action

Knowing what makes employees feel satisfied isn’t the end of the story. Leaders need to know how to implement these elements with their own teams. Below, we will go through each of the five factors and look at ways to incorporate them in the workplace.

1. Interest in Work: Consider doubling down on job design, career mobility, and internal talent marketplaces that allow employees to pursue meaningful work and take on additional or different responsibilities that can help them with their overall career development. Instead of narrowly defined roles, leaders can create adaptable assignments that align business needs with individual interests and skill sets.
2. Quality of Leadership: Evaluate and invest in leadership pipelines. Training and accountability mechanisms should emphasize empathy, transparency, and development. Empower leaders at all levels to act as coaches instead of task managers. Recognizing that leadership quality impacts nearly every other job satisfaction driver, that makes this a top strategic priority.
3. Organizational Culture: Culture is no longer confined to the office. Be intentional in cultivating belonging, clarity, and shared purpose across digital and physical spaces. This is especially crucial for the youngest demographic of workers, who prioritize a positive culture over job security and are willing to switch jobs in search of a more compatible workplace culture and opportunities for growth and advancement. The “experience” of work at times may even overtake more tangible rewards as it feeds into employees’ intrinsic motivation.
4. Workload: Redefine productivity through the lens of impact rather than hours. Equip managers to regularly assess workloads, redistribute tasks, and support prioritization. In performance management, consider balancing stretch goals with mental health support and workload flexibility. Giving team members more control over their workload, perhaps with performance-based pay as an incentive, allows them to adjust for their external responsibilities while providing opportunities to take on additional tasks as they are able.
5. Recognition: Build recognition into the rhythm of work. Make it frequent, timely, authentic, and aligned with your culture. Equip managers to deliver recognition that fuels motivation. Look at peer recognition systems to encourage recognition as a habit and an expectation. Tailor the delivery—some employees prefer public accolades, others private notes—but ensure that it happens regularly.

Satisfaction Is Up—Yet Retention Risks Remain

While job satisfaction is high, it’s important not to conflate this with guaranteed retention. As the report highlights, more than one-third of employees still say they intend to leave their jobs within the next six months. The biggest pain points among these potential leavers? Poor promotion policies, low recognition, and lack of growth.

In contrast with those intending to leave their jobs, job switchers, or those that have already found new employment, report higher satisfaction in nearly every category, particularly around interest in work and organizational culture. This reinforces that, beyond wages or benefits, career development and culture fit are now primary drivers of career decisions, so long as wages and benefits are fair and competitive.

Worker Sentiment: Mental Health, Retention, and Belonging on the Rise

For the third year in a row, The Conference Board’s Job Satisfaction survey included data on worker sentiment—including engagement, intent to stay, mental health, belonging, and level of effort—and the findings in 2025 reveal an upward trend even as engagement among US workers remains alarmingly low.

Compared to six months earlier:

• 38% of workers reported feeling better or much better about their engagement—an increase over previous years.
• Over 40% reported improved intent to stay, effort levels, and sense of belonging.
• Even mental health—traditionally a more stagnant indicator—showed improvement, with 37% of workers reporting feeling better than six months prior.

These gains are not incidental. They reflect broader changes in how organizations support their people and design the work experience.  Importantly, they also demonstrate that much more work is necessary to make positive sentiments the norm among the majority of workers.

In summary, engagement and belonging are outcomes of deliberate culture and design. Create space for employee input, invest in mental health supports, and ensure that psychological safety, inclusion, and equal opportunity efforts include day-to-day experiences, not just metrics. When people feel safe, connected, fairly-treated, and energized, they contribute more—and stay longer.

What part of your job gives you the most satisfaction? Have any of these factors ever contributed to you leaving a job?

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