The Appeal of Small Businesses

If all you care about is money, it's large companies that deliver the goods. But if you want something resembling a personal life, don't want to be unhappy on the job and like to be treated fairly, you'd be much better off with a smaller employer.

From their 12th Annual "Attitudes in the American Workplace" Poll carried out for Connecticut-based employee communications specialists, The Marlin Company, here are some interesting findings:

• One in three (28%) of US workers at large companies (those with more than 1000 employees) are strongly satisfied with their jobs compared with four out of 10 (41%) of their counterparts in companies with fewer than 100 staff.
• While almost half (46%) of big company employees complained that work often interfered with their personal and family life, the same was true for only one in three (33%) working for small companies.

BOTTOMLINE: Smaller companies often give employees more responsibility from the start, are less politicized and less bureaucratic.