October 16, 2025
Traditional labor statistics tell us how many people are employed and how much they earn. But these numbers tell only part of the story. Far less information is collected about other aspects of job quality such as predictable schedules, safety and respect, a voice in decisions that shape the job, and opportunities for advancement.
A new nationally representative survey aims to fill that gap, revealing that four in 10 U.S. workers are in jobs that meet basic elements of job quality. The American Job Quality Study (AJQS) surveyed more than 18,000 workers across industries, geographies, and job types. These data provide the most comprehensive picture yet of job quality in the United States and offer a crucial complement to existing sources of labor market data by highlighting the experiences of workers day to day.
An interdisciplinary team of nationally-known experts on job quality led the design of the AJQS survey. The survey was fielded by Gallup as part of a project led and funded by Jobs for the Future and the Families & Workers Fund. Susan Houseman, Senior Economist at the Upjohn Institute, directed the research team, and Research Fellow Beth Truesdale led the qualitative arm of the study.
The first report on the AJQS, released today, offers an initial look at how many U.S. employees have quality jobs and who holds them. The study defines a “quality job” as one that achieves minimum thresholds across at least three of the five dimensions that research shows matter most to workers: financial well-being, workplace culture and safety, growth and development opportunities, agency and voice, and work structure and autonomy.
Initial findings include:
- Most employees report having autonomy about how they do their work, but not when they do their work. Some 71% report having the freedom to decide how they perform their tasks. But more than half (62%) lack work schedules that are stable, predictable, and over which they have some control, which previous research shows is a major source of stress.
- Overall, U.S. employees feel respected at work, but want more voice in decisions affecting their jobs. 83% agree that they are treated with respect by co-workers and customers. However, nearly seven in ten employees (69%) say they have less influence than they should over their pay and benefits, more than half (55%) report limited input on decisions involving new technology at work, and 48% say they have too little say over their working conditions.
- A quarter of employees do not see opportunities for advancement in their current role. One in four employees report that their organizations do not offer promotion or advancement opportunities. Access to mentorship and training is also uneven, with just over half of employees reporting on-the-job training in the past year.
- When it comes to financial well-being, 29% of employees say they are “just getting by” or “finding it difficult to get by.” Another 43% say they are “doing okay,” while 27% of employees say they are “living comfortably.”
- Nearly a quarter (24%) of employees report being treated unfairly at their job because of their identity. Overall, 24% of employees report discrimination or unfair treatment at work based on their identity. Rates are highest among nonbinary (52%), neurodivergent (47%), Middle Eastern/North African (41%) and LGBTQ+ (36%) employees.
“No single data point or trend line can fully capture the complexity and scale of the U.S. economy. As a result, it’s easy to become overly reliant on long-standing metrics that, while critical, don’t tell the full story,” said Erica Groshen, former Commissioner of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and a member of the AJQS research team. “The gap between what labor market data tells us and what workers are experiencing has only become clearer in recent years. The American Job Quality Study represents an effort to close that gap, grounded in rigorous research and a commitment to actionable, practical solutions for businesses and policy leaders.”
In addition to Houseman and Truesdale, research team members include Katharine G. Abraham, Distinguished University Professor of Economics, University of Maryland; Erica L. Groshen, Senior Economics Advisor, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations; Alexander Hertel-Fernandez, Herbert Lehman Professor of Government, Columbia University; Erin L. Kelly, Sloan Distinguished Professor of Work and Organization Studies, MIT Sloan School of Management, and Co-Director, MIT Institute for Work and Employment Research; Thomas A. Kochan, George M. Bunker Professor Emeritus, MIT Sloan School of Management and Institute for Work and Employment Research; and Susan J. Lambert, Professor Emerita, Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, University of Chicago.
The study builds on the Job Quality Measurement Initiative, which involved over 70 experts from business, academia, unions, and think tanks – including Institute researchers – and called for deeper, more comprehensive data on what matters most to workers. The AJQS data set and methodology are now publicly available to inform future research, policy and practice.
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