Nearly a quarter (24%) of the UKís entire office based workforce is unhappy at work, according to the first new quarterly ëHappiness At Work Indexí from international recruitment consultancy Badenoch and Clark. With one in four employees dissatisfied with their office jobs, companies risk significant threats to their workforce and overall business.
The survey of 1,000 British office workers questioned employees on their working hours, modes of travel, bosses behaviour, work attire, relationships with colleagues, office space and much more, to discover the key to successful employee satisfaction.
The average profile of the UKís unhappiest office workers are male IT and Telecoms specialists with a male boss, living in Manchester, working at the same company for more than ten years. The UKís happiest office workers are female Gemini lawyers, living in Bristol, working for a female boss at a firm or in-house for less than five years, commuting each day by car and only required to wear casual business attire.
Other key findings
- Lawyers come out on top - Lawyers are the happiest white collar work force in the United Kingdom. Nearly three quarters (69%) say they are very happy at work. Brits working in IT and telecoms are the least happy (only 28%)
- Fixed hours ñ Only 27% of office employees are able to work flexible hours to suit their own schedules. The majority of UK office workers either work fixed hours of 9am to 6pm (41% of respondents) or even longer (14% are expected to get in early and stay late). Only 9% work part time
- Late night Londoners - London is by far the worst place for expecting workers to get in early and stay late at night (25%) versus 4% in Glasgow, 5% in Bristol, 9% in Manchester
- The gender divide - British men are unhappier at work than women - over a quarter (28%) say they are miserable in their jobs compared to 22% of women
- Women on top - 60% of office workers say they are far happier working for a female boss. The most female bosses are found in Cardiff (66%) but Leeds and Liverpool still have men dominating the senior positions (68% and 67% male bosses respectively). London offices have a fairly even split (58% men)
- Bristol does it best - The happiest workers are from Bristol ñ 57% say their jobs make them happy. This is closely followed by Londoners (56%)
- Miserable in Manchester - Mancunians are the least content, with only 37% claiming to be happy at work. This could be down to ìdictatorialî bosses who are twice as likely (33%) than in London (16%)
- Mixing business with pleasure ñ A key factor of happiness at work is friends and socialising. Nearly half of UK office workers (49%) have up to three colleagues they also consider real friends. Quality counts over quantity though, with only 5% considering more than ten colleagues to be genuine friends
- Neil Wilson, Managing Director of Badenoch and Clark says, ìEmployers need to be aware that a significant number of their employees are currently unhappy at work, possibly even contemplating a change in companies. Attracting and retaining talent is one of the biggest challenges facing UK management, particularly in markets where skills are in high demand. Itís essential that employers understand what motivates and enthuses their workforce. Benefits, opportunities to work flexibly, management style and work environments will all have an impact. Employee feedback from existing and departing employees will help frame this.î
6.9 million UK employees unhappy at work
Risk to British enterprise with discontent amongst 1 in 4 office workers
