Less Than Half Of U.S. Professionals Feel Well Compensated

According to LinkedIn’s latest Workforce Confidence survey, approximately 44% of U.S. professionals feel they are well compensated for their work. 

However, satisfaction levels vary significantly across different roles. Engineers and program/project managers are the happiest, with 54% expressing satisfaction with their pay.

Other fields that report above-average pay satisfaction include finance, research, quality assurance, human resources, and business development, where just over half of employees believe they are well compensated. 

Consulting and information technology professionals also showed notable satisfaction rates, reporting 49% and 48%, respectively.

The top 10 fields that report feeling well compensated are:

1. Engineering — 54%
2. Program and project management — 54%
3. Finance — 52%
4. Research — 51%
5. Quality assurance — 51%
6. Human resources — 51%
7. Business development — 51%
8. Product management — 50%
9. Consulting — 49%
10. Information technology — 48%

Job type isn’t the only factor influencing pay satisfaction. The survey indicates that older workers tend to be happier with their salaries compared to their younger counterparts. 

Additionally, remote and hybrid workers report higher levels of pay satisfaction than those working fully on-site.

The survey included 15,669 U.S. professionals and was conducted from June 15 to Sept. 20.