Important findings about your career

Here's a summary of an article in the March 2006 issue of Harvard Business Review on "Managing Middlescence":

Midcareer employees – those between 35 and 54 – make up more than half the workforce. One in 4 has managerial or supervisory responsibility.

In June 2004, Concours Group conducted a survey with Harris Interactive of more than 7,700 U.S. Workers, and found that people in this age group...

• Work longer hours than their older and younger counterparts, with 30% saying they put in 50 or more hours per week
• Only 43 are passionate about their jobs
• 33% feel energized by their work
• 36% say they feel they are in dead-end jobs
• More than 40% report feelings of burnout

Midcarer employees are the least likely to say that their workplace is congenial and fun or that it offers ample opportunity to try new things.

As a group, they have the lowest satisfaction rates with their immediate managers and the least confidence in top executives.

Only 1 in 3 agrees that top management displays integrity or commitment to employee development, and 1 in 4 often disagrees with the organization's policies on important employee matters.

One in 5 is seeking opportunities in other organizations, and a similar percentage are looking for a major career change. But 85% believe that career changes are very difficult these days. Family and financial pressures outside work make them conservative in their career choices, and many cannot afford moves that would involve cuts in pay or benefits.