Who Are America's Most Optimistic Workers? A poll by online salary database PayScale reveals which industries have the most confident employees.
By Nina Zipkin
In these uncertain times, some bright-eyed American workers believe their employer will stay afloat against all odds. Then, there are workers who are sure their company will not simply withstand any obstacles, but thrive in spite of them.
To determine which employees perceive their workplace's metaphorical glass as half-full, if not brimming with possibility, career and salary comparison platform PayScale conducted a poll of more than 425,000 employees. The researchers aimed to gauge outlooks regarding the future solvency and success of American employers.
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Nearly 60 percent of the participants surveyed report optimism regarding their employer. Real estate, finance and insurance and construction are the three industries with the most positive workers, all with more than one-third of employees polled specifying that they are "strongly confident" about the future (as opposed to just "confident" or a dimmer perspective).
Flight attendants, dentists and postsecondary teachers are the most optimistic types of employees, with more than half of workers surveyed in each job category reporting strong confidence in their employer.
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And attitudes aren't confined to industries, PayScale's researchers found. If you want to find the most optimistic employees in the country, go west. Utah ranks the highest -- nearly 37 percent of its workers are strongly optimistic -- followed by its neighbors Idaho and Nevada.
