Tuesday, February 24, 2004 -
Worker morale is low in the Mile High City.
Nearly 17 percent of Denver workers are unhappy with their jobs, the highest percentage among 22 major U.S. cities, according to the results of an online survey released Monday by AOL. The national average is 11 percent.
Denver also has the largest number of workers willing to leave Colorado to find new work, the survey found. AOL surveyed 5,086 full-time workers between Jan. 5 and Feb. 2.
Rico Bess, who works in the mail room of a Denver law firm, is among the miserable. When he's on the clock, he's busy making copies and processing incoming and outgoing mail. During breaks, he's busy looking for a new line of work.
"It's not something I want to make a career out of," Bess said of the job he has held for about a month.
The 43-year-old said he's most unhappy with his pay. Some of his friends are in the same situation.
"They're working to get the paycheck, but they're unhappy with their jobs," Bess said.
The AOL survey, conducted by Digital Marketing Services, found that 64 percent of Denver employees would move out of the area for a job, compared with the national average of 56.7 percent.
Addie Renfro, a loan officer with Mile High Lending Concepts, said she would leave Denver to work in her desired field, which would be in marketing or politics.
"I'm trying to get back into my passion in life, and it's just been a really tough time," Renfro said. "That's where my frustration lies. It's difficult with the market the way it is."
Other findings about the Denver workforce:
54.5 percent of employees claim to work more than eight hours a day, which places Denver second among cities included in the survey.
31.7 percent say they are really stressed out about their job, which puts Denver in fourth place in that category.
16.3 percent have been laid off in the past two years, for a second-place ranking.
35 percent say they are not confident they could find another job in the area, for a first-place ranking in that category.
Dorothy Carpenter, 19, moved from Texas to Denver to live with her brother nearly two months ago and hasn't been able to find work.
"I guess I came to the wrong place," Carpenter said, but she added that she's not ready to give up and move again.
