Editor, UBM

March 10, 2017

Get the SHP newsletter

Daily health and safety news, job alerts and resources

How happy are UK workers compared to those in Europe?

With a lot of discussion about the importance of focusing on managing stress at work, you might stop to wonder how happy workers in the UK are. In a study of over 9,900 working adults across Europe, management service company ADP explored the attitudes of employees towards the future of work.

The survey, carried out in July 2016 by research agency Opinion Matters, took a sample of working adults from eight key economies across Europe, including France,Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.

Where can we find the happiest employees?

Levels of job satisfaction vary significantly across Europe, according to the research. Dutch, Polish and Swiss employees are the most satisfied, whilst the UK comes joint fifth.

unnamed

In the UK, satisfaction levels also differ greatly across regions; three quarters of those based in the East are satisfied (75%), whilst only 59% of employees in Northern Ireland are satisfied.unnamed (2)

In the UK, those working in architecture, engineering and building are the most satisfied (84%), whilst IT & Telecoms workers fare well across Europe and the UK. In the UK, those working in financial services are the least satisfied (57%) – the lowest level of job satisfaction overall. In contrast, 71% of financial services employees in other European countries are satisfied.

unnamed (1)

Jeff Phipps, managing director at ADP UK, said: “It is positive to see that satisfaction levels are generally high across Europe, suggesting that most people are engaged in their work and feel fulfilled.

“However, even in higher scoring industries and countries there is no room for complacency. The very best businesses are focusing their efforts on the ‘whole person’ ensuring that their people feel valued, have a sense of purpose and that their well-being is supported.

“Employee satisfaction has long been acknowledged to have major implications for innovation, productivity and customer experience.”

What makes us susceptible to burnout?

In this episode  of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.

We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.

stress

Related Topics

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

1 Comment
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Nigel Dupree
Nigel Dupree
7 years ago

Do please advise me of my misconception as, unless I am completely off my med’s would I be so far off the mark to maybe suggest that the figures presented above pretty closely mirror performance, productivity & Wellbeing ? Or would it be ‘counter intuitive’ to propose that, by and large, whether in Education or the Workplace UK’s human resources were running at around 60% effective in terms of butting-up against any glass-ceiling of performance and productivity ? That is without presuming or assuming let alone making a fool of myself that the majority sort of answered correctly or should… Read more »