Gail Rosenblum: Now more than ever: Workers, reunite!

I wasn't surprised with last week's news about job dissatisfaction plummeting to a 22-year low. With inflation outpacing incomes, health insurance costs soaring, and fear of layoffs constant, it's bigger news that 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with their work.

But one small piece of the study, conducted by the Conference Board research group, worried me: Warm feelings for our co-workers -- those steady suppliers of unconditional love in the face of incompetent bosses and unfair job divisions, and of coffee change when we're broke -- continue to chill.

While 56 percent of those surveyed say they like their co-workers, that's down 1 percentage point from last year, and down 12 percentage points from 1987. Not "Lord of the Flies" levels, certainly, but not going in the right direction, either.

Theories abound.

"Look to your left, look to your right. With the next round of layoffs, one of you possibly is not going to be here anymore," said Seymour Adler, an organizational psychologist and senior vice president of Chicago-based Aon Consulting. He has tracked workplace trends for 30 years. "The element of competitiveness in a shrinking organization," he said, "erodes trust and the sense that we're in this together."

Further eroding that sense is the growth in telecommuting, which decreases the likelihood of regular team-building meetings, schmoozing and lunches together, after-work drinks and gossiping at the coffeemaker. That latter workplace perk, by the way, has been co-opted by Facebook and other social networking sites.

Add to all of that a workforce more diverse ethnically and generationally than ever, with varying work ethics, and then be grateful you're not the boss (whose popularity, by the way, also is going south, from a 51 percent satisfaction rate now, compared to 60 percent 20 years ago).

The problem is that, in tough times like these, we need our co-workers' support more than ever. "Twenty or 40 years ago, if the economy or your boss was tough, you had your mates, so you were able to get through it," Adler said. "The danger isn't just that we're snippy, but we lack that social buffer to deal with all the anxiety and stress that's out there."

So, mates, listen up! Here is what some of the experts suggest:

Pull your weight. Be on time. Manage your time smartly. Your company is likely struggling to do more with less and retool to be more efficient.

Embrace change. Be OK with new ways of doing things. Your company's life, and your livelihood, could depend on it.

Be more patient. Realize that everyone is swamped and, if someone appears to be dropping the ball, it's probably because he or she is swamped, too. Or maybe he or she is just a slacker so:

Bosses, have a clear focus. Pick what Mark Royal, a senior consultant at the Chicago-based Hay Group, calls "must-win battles." Help your staff members prioritize so they don't feel overwhelmed and, in turn, get angry at their co-workers. Focus on their strengths so they can collaborate successfully.

Be grateful. Elizabeth McWhite is. The contract development analyst for UCare misses the good-old days "of one-and-a-half-hour lunches, talking about clothes and trashing each other's cubes for birthdays," while still getting their work done.

Her strategy: gratitude, for good co-workers, and for the fact that she is simply, and blessedly, employed.

"I suffer a little bit," she confesses, "from survivor's guilt."