A survey looking at what workers really want has been conducted in July and August 2008 by Yougov on behalf of the TUC.

The survey found that near three quarters of people are satisfied with their jobs.

The most satisfied group in the workforce was unsurprisingly those earning the highest wages. 84% of those earning over 60,000 said they were satisfied; at the other end of the spectrum, only 49% of those earning below 15,000 said they were satisfied.

People working in sales and customer services were least happy, 38% said they were dissatisfied.

Only 46% of employees felt the employer deserved their loyalty. Many employers will find this worrying! Most employers would be concerned to learn that an employee did not feel their employer deserved their loyalty. Small business owners can breathe a little easier because the statistics show that only 17% of those employed by small businesses felt their employer didn't deserve loyalty. Of those working for larger organisations 31% felt their loyalty was not deserved.

These statistics confound some of the myths around small businesses. They show that small business owners care, they know their employees are their greatest asset, they tend to look after them and listen to their needs.

Employees in small firms have the highest job satisfaction. 21% strongly agreed with the idea of they were pleased with their current job. In bigger firms, this rate varied between 14% and 19%.

28% strongly agreed that they were committed to their employer, in larger organisations the rate was just 15% to 18%

What people are searching for in a job? - Fair pay - Working with great colleagues, team members, managers, boss - Learning new skills

The areas people felt that reality was different to what they were seeking in a job were: - Promotion opportunities - Fair pay - Learning new skills

Consequently, employer should look into these criteria to improve their employees' job satisfaction.