The Atlantic

What If Americans Are Happy at Work?

Persistent employment misery is a myth.
Source: Millennium Images / Gallery Stock

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The typical career is about 80,000 hours long, or one-sixth of the average person’s waking life. One would love to be deliriously happy for all 80,000 hours. But, alas, we’re not. And the economic-news industry loves nothing more than to remind us of it. In fact, for the past three years, finance media have become so desperate to explain the state of workplace misery to their audience that they’ve often ignored facts, logic, or basic common sense.

In 2021, finance journalism couldn’t stop talking about the “Great Resignation.” Judging by the ample coverage, it appeared that workers” And that’s what the economy’s Great Resignation really was: a welcome free-agent period for low-income workers looking for higher wages.

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