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Economic Turmoil Has A Lot Of People Unhappy With Their Jobs

BOSTON (CBS) - The recent economic volatility has only compounded a problem many face in the workforce. They are unhappy in their jobs but they feel trapped by the lack of opportunity in the job market.

"They are unhappy that they have lost colleagues. They are unhappy that they are working harder. They are unhappy because they don't feel valued by their organization," said career consultant Elaine Varelas of Keystone Partners in Boston.

According to a recent survey by human resources consultant, Mercer, job satisfaction has plummeted since 2005. The company found that more than 30% of workers surveyed said they are seriously considering leaving their jobs. Another 21% of workers have an unfavorable view of their boss. One worker we spoke with at Copley Square echoed that sentiment.

"They don't care. They don't care. It's all about money," he said.

WBZ-TV's Kate Merrill reports

That discontent leaves many companies with the majority of their workforce unhappy and less likely to be giving it their all. According to Varelas, that's a huge issue for the employer. "Every time you find an employee who is not engaged or committed, that company is going to end up losing money," she said.

What makes matters worse is that there are few options for all those unhappy workers. "There's not much out there," one worker said. "I've been trying for months and months and months and it's a really hard process," he said.

Varelas agrees. "There's a lot of disappointment and frustration out there because it's an employers market," she said.

Varelas says there are jobs out there. People just have to worker harder to find them. "People need to be highly skilled job seekers, highly competitive job seekers to be able to make that happen," she said.

Career experts agree, it's much easier to find a job when you already have one, so no matter how frustrated you get, you are better off sticking it out until you find a new position.

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