PA life
PA life

36 per cent of people are unhappy in their jobs

Real estate is the industry which scored the lowestโ€“ followed by management, consulting and automotive.

At the other end of the scale, education was deemed the happiest sector โ€“ with workers scoring high on having a clear sense of purpose.

This was followed closely workers in aerospace and defence, and government and public administration which also scored high on work contentment.

The insights come from Indeedโ€™s Work Happiness Score – which measures how people feel at work and why โ€“ and displays data for more than 1,800 organisations in the UK across 25 different sectors.

It measures happiness by allowing current and former employees to rate companies on a scale of one to five based on a simple statement: โ€˜I feel happy at work most of the time.โ€™

The survey also asks about belonging, appreciation, inclusion, support, purpose, energy, learning, achievement, trust, flexibility, compensation, stress level, satisfaction and manager support.

Indeedโ€™s Work Happiness Score was developed with guidance from Dr Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Professor of Economics at Saรฏd Business School and Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford University and Dr Sonja Lyubomirsky, professor of psychology at University of California.

In response to the findings, almost 100 British workers demonstrated in Londonโ€™s Trafalgar Square today (Tuesdayย 25th January).

The crowd, comprising of workers from 11 different sectors including healthcare, construction and real estate, held balloons to communicate the nationโ€™s feelings towards their jobs using the universal language of emojis.

Dr De Neve said: “Happiness at work is critical to people’s wellbeing for obvious reasons but it is also a driver of their productivity and success.

โ€œSo, employers are well advised to get the emotional pulse of their organisation and have a frequent measure of workplace happiness.

“Thatโ€™s why Iโ€™m thrilled to have been involved in developing Indeedโ€™s Work Happiness Score to offer employers and employees robust measures of work happiness, and its drivers, that can be readily compared across thousands of organisations.

โ€œThis is only the beginning and Iโ€™m so excited to witness the positive impact this score has on fostering happy and thriving workforces across the UK and globally.โ€

Supporting research of 2,000 employees, conducted via OnePoll, found the average worker spends a fifth of every year feeling unhappy in their role.

Worryingly, one in 10 (11 per cent) even start feeling unhappy less than six months into a new job.

But it seems unhappiness in the workplace isnโ€™t restricted to the working day – it has a knock-on effect on personal lives too.

More than a quarter (28 per cent) admit they struggle to find enjoyment in other aspects of their lives due to feeling unhappy at work, while 22 per cent have taken work frustrations out on their partners.

Almost three-quarters (72 per cent) feel their workplace unhappiness has negatively impacted their physical and/or mental wellbeing, with 44 per cent losing sleep and 43 per cent lacking energy.

A third (33 per cent) of unhappy workers have consequently experienced physical symptoms, with headaches and migraines (55 per cent) the most common.

LaFawn Davis, Senior Vice President, Environmental, Social and Governance at Indeed said: โ€œHappiness should not be a privilege but when it comes to work, itโ€™s a fundamental right.

โ€œJob postings in the UK have soared above their pre-pandemic level. As the labour market shakes off the ill-effects of the pandemic, the adjustments caused by Covid-19 have tipped the balance of power in favour of jobseekers.

โ€œFor employers, this means taking a holistic approach to employee wellbeing, and our Work Happiness Score will make it easier for them to measure drivers of happiness to see where improvements can be made.

โ€œWhile many UK workers are unhappy, there are reasons for optimism. An overwhelming majority of people believe happiness at work is possible and while some sectors are more satisfied than others, we know happiness is possible in all workplaces.โ€

TOP 10 HAPPIEST SECTORS:

1.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Education

2.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Aerospace and defence

3.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Media and communications

4.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Government and public administration

5.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Information technology

6.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Non-profit and NGO

7.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Human resources and staffing

8.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Personal consumer services

9.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Hotels and travel accommodation

10.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Healthcare

TOP 10 LEAST HAPPY:

1.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Real estate

2.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Management and consulting

3.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Automotive

4.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Telecommunications

5.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Restaurants and food Services

6.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Insurance

7.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Manufacturing

8.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Transportation and logistics

9.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Arts, Entertainment and recreation

10.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย  Retail and wholesale