Do you suffer from ‘psychological recession’?

Given the state of journalism, here’s an interesting tidbit:

American workers, hardened by more than 20 years of mass layoffs, are more likely today to be victims of a “psychological recession,” according to Judith Bardwick, an expert on workplace psychology. “On average, 80 percent of the people in many companies are not engaged in the work that they do,” she said, citing a Gallup poll of 12.5 million people from 2003 to 2005.

Gems like this is why I like working on business pages.

Businessweek interviewed Bardwick last month, where she explained that bad managers compound this problem and encourages employers to customize work conditions. ComputerWorld also talked to Bardwick for more of an IT perspective.