What makes people happy at work?

by Startacus Admin

You shouldn’t be defined solely by your job and you certainly shouldn’t feel enslaved to it. On the other hand, we spend so much of our lives at work — dealing with clients, going to meetings, talking to our colleagues — we shouldn’t underplay how crucial work is to our ultimate happiness either.
For this reason, Jobbio has launched the Happiness Index, original research into what makes people truly happy at work. They surveyed over 4000 people across the UK and the US, all in full time employment, in a number of different industries.
Here are their key findings: (orignally published here and with the full report available here : Jobbio Happiness Index)Work-life balance
Work-life balance is the biggest factor that makes UK people happy in their jobs (47%) while in the US it’s feeling busy and productive in their roles (43%). In both the UK and the US positive feedback from clients and customers outranked praise from management in what motivates workers.
How would respondents improve their roles? The majority in the UK said that they would want more flexible hours, closely followed by more job perks to feel happier in their role. In the US more job perks was the top answer that would improve current roles with 10% saying they receive no perks or benefits at all.
Work Frustrations
In terms of work frustrations, meetings are the biggest waste of time at work for employees in the UK (28%), while in the US it is covering for employee absences (19%). Across both the UK and the US, the biggest waste of time are meetings, covering for staff absences and chatting with colleagues. However, 30% in the US and 23% in the UK say their time is not wasted at work.
Romance
An office tryst was not uncommon among respondents with over a third of those surveyed in the UK saying they had previously had an office romance. However, almost 50% of people said they have not had a work romance and would never consider it.
A good employer
Promoting a good work-life balance is considered the top factor that makes someone a good employer by six in ten adults in both the UK and US. More UK employees value employers that offer competitive salaries (56% vs 46%) and that offer praise and rewards (53% vs 44%).
On the issue of discussing salary surveyees were pretty divided with 52% saying they were comfortable to be transparent with their colleagues around what they earned while 48% said they were not.
Happiest
The Jobbio Happiness Index also reveals that generally US workers are happier in their roles than their UK counterparts with 32% saying they’re always happy compared to 23% of Brits. This is despite the fact that US workers take less holiday days than those in the UK with just 55% using all their annual leave. This figure rises to 84% in the UK.
About Jobbio and Startacus
Startacus and Jobbio have joined together to create a startup jobs channel for the startup community. Startup employers (new to Jobbio) can post their first job for FREE - Find out more about that here. Talent seeking employment within the startup community can also view and apply for a whole host of startup jobs.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Week Gen-C is a week long calendar of events focused on entrepreneurship and careers, aimed at helping young people affected by the covid pandemic in the North West of NI

Leading startup community, YSYS launch 4 days of innovative online conversations and a range of new initiatives with the core theme of “Access”

Jean Gamester from Toastmasters International shares her tips on bringing back some of that old normal and staying fabulously virtually connected

Planning to launch a fashion brand this year? Here are a few basic tips that will help you do just that and get your business off to the right start

Bippit is an online platform and app that helps companies to support the financial needs of their employees - not just via their salary

2021 may be a challenging time to start a business, but these tips should help you get it right...

Startacus and Hatch Enterprise celebrate International Women’s Day by partnering with NetMinds to bring together female founders for a virtual speed networking event

Keeping customers engaged is vital for any small business - these basic tips will help you do just that

Alchemy Technology Services, the Derry-based centre of excellence for insurance software implementation receives recognition for its commitment to diversity

For the first time ever, the Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge has both a British winner and runner up in the form of innovative startups SoluBlue and Jiva Materials
Published on: 20th January 2018
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.







- Week Gen-C to offer career and entrepreneurship respite to pandemic-hit youth 1st Mar 2021 Week Gen-C is a week long calendar of events focused on entrepreneurship and careers, aimed at helping young people affected by the covid pandemic in the North West of NI
- #YSYSAccessWeek: Building a diverse, inclusive and accessible tech startup ecosystem 28th Feb 2021 Leading startup community, YSYS launch 4 days of innovative online conversations and a range of new initiatives with the core theme of “Access”
- Startacus and Hatch Enterprise offer speed networking IWD-inspired event 24th Feb 2021 Startacus and Hatch Enterprise celebrate International Women’s Day by partnering with NetMinds to bring together female founders for a virtual speed networking event
- Alchemy Technology Services receives Bronze Diversity Mark NI Award 23rd Feb 2021 Alchemy Technology Services, the Derry-based centre of excellence for insurance software implementation receives recognition for its commitment to diversity