Do you have the protential to grow in your current job/career? Answer greatly affects outlook (and maybe your overall happiness)

"The largest single factor driving job satisfaction is the opportunity for growth and career development. This finding is consistent with what we are seeing in other countries, as people seek to strengthen their skills to increase their capacity to change jobs or change careers."

This is from an Information Technology industry in India but shows the similarity of attitudes and motivations between different countries. And despite increases in overall welfare of Indian technology sector employees satisfaction has been dropping. According to the manager of the research project:

"The decline in satisfaction and retention levels can be directly attributed to the steady increase in expectation levels of the employees and the inability of the employers in managing the same."

"Growth" is believed to not only be a factor in job satisfaction but also overall happiness.

Another interesting finding is the universal nature of the concept of "work-life balance". The study notes that "employees want more control over their schedules and more involvement in the company decisions that affect them." Not only are you not alone if you have these feelings in your workplace but these feelings are in fact global.

What do you do if you don't have room for advancement, development or growth with your current employer?

Step one is to realize that it is better to change the situation than to expect yourself to change your attitude since, as noted above, growth possibilities is a universal expectation. With that decided you decide if it is a career change or job change that is called for and then embark accordingly. This collection of midlife career change posts is a great place to start.

Source: Association of Career Professionals