Individuals who work in smaller organizations have much more positive attitudes toward their jobs, their employers and their top managers than people working for large employers, according to a new Harris survey. The survey also finds that younger workers have much more negative views of their jobs, their employers and their top managers than older workers.

Perhaps the most disturbing conclusion that can be drawn from this research is how many employees dislike their jobs and do not have good feelings about their employers and senior managers. While 59 percent of employees are satisfied with their jobs, that leaves two out of every five (41 percent) workers who are not.

One-third (33 percent) of workers feel that they are at a dead-end at their current jobs, and even more (42 percent) believe they are ”trying to cope with feelings of burnout.” Fewer than half (44 percent) of employees feel glad that they chose to work for their current employers over others. And only just over a third (37 percent) believe that their “top management displays integrity and morality.”

The survey was conducted for the Concours Group, a management consulting, research and education firm, and Age Wave, a leading authority on global aging and its social, economic and market implications.

In general, the smaller the company or other organization people work for, the more they like their jobs, their employers, and their top management. For example, people who work for organizations with fewer than 50 employees hold much more positive attitudes than people in organizations with 5,000 employees: 64 percent of people working for small employers are satisfied with their jobs compared to 54 percent in large companies; only 25 percent of people working for large employers feel that “this is the best organization to work for,” compared to 43 percent of those working for small companies; and only 30 percent of employees at large organizations, compared to 48 percent of those working for small employers believe their top managers display integrity and morality.

Older employees are more likely than younger employees to have positive attitudes toward their work and their employers. A comparison of employees aged 18 to 34 and of those aged 55 and over finds a consistent pattern with older workers giving responses which are between 10 and 22 percentage points more positive.