Britain’s workers are among the unhappiest in Europe and around the developed world, directly impacting productivity in the UK, according to a major new global survey released last Thursday.
The solution identified from the research is to hire more women as well as younger workers and those nearing retirement age as they tend to be happier in their work.
The Future of Fulfillment @ Work from recruiter Randstad report interviewed approximately 45,000 employees from the UK, as well as Britain’s English-speaking and European peers.
British workers have had the lowest scores in nine out of the past 13 quarters against its peers in Europe, and nine out of the last 11 quarters in the US, Canada and Australia.
Roughly 160 million working days a year are lost in the UK due to absence from the workplace
Only two thirds of British workers said they were satisfied with their current employer, whereas in The Netherlands and Belgium three quarters of staff said they were satisfied.
The wider international comparison revealed 70 per cent of workers in Australia are satisfied with their employer, while 73 per cent were satisfied in New Zealand. In the US, it’s slightly higher at 74 per cent; and the UK lags even further behind Canada, where 77 per cent are satisfied with their employer.
With the number of people in work within the UK now standing at 29.84 million, the research suggests that, across the country, 9.85 million employees are professionally unfulfilled.
According to Randstad, who sponsored the report, this presents a huge problem for British industry: poor levels of job satisfaction and professional fulfillment increases absenteeism and staff turnover affecting the bottom line. It could also explain Britain’s lower productivity (output per worker) than the rest of the G7.
Roughly 160 million working days a year are lost in the UK due to absence from the workplace. The average costs of absence per employee per year is now £975. Job satisfaction (as well as commitment and work-life balance) has an important effect on levels of engagement and intention to quit.
The Fulfilment @ Work report suggests there are a number of ways employers can increase the job satisfaction of their workforces without drastically increasing costs, including hiring more older and younger workers or women who, according to the report, have higher rates of professional fulfillment.
As well as rallying employers to join a drive to raise standards of professional fulfillment, Randstad is also launching a campaign – How I Became – to enable employees to learn more about fulfillment and be inspired by others who are fulfilled in their careers.
Randstad UK is part of the Randstad group, one of the leading recruitment and HR services providers in the world with a top five position in the UK and a top three position in 13 countries, including the US, France and Germany.
In the UK, Randstad’s business lines serve the public and private sectors across accounting and financial services; business support; construction, property and engineering; education; health and social care; interim management and search; HR; IT; legal; retail; sales, student and worker support and in-house and managed services.
• Major global study into workplace fulfillment reveals UK workers unhappier than their peers in Europe, US, Canada and Australia.
• That is having a knock on impact on British businesses, according to report authors – an unhappy worker is less productive.
• Call for employers to increase job variety, hire more women as well as older and younger employees.