Are People Currently Happy in Their Job Roles?

Being happy in your job is just as important as your salary or what work you are doing. Here at Douglas Scott Legal Recruitment, as an IIP-certified company, we are very concerned with ensuring people are happy in their job roles. People who are happy at work are more likely to be more engaged with what they are doing and more productive.

Our yearly Salary Survey asks people to score how they feel at work, and we thought it was worth looking into to see how people currently feel about their jobs and whether this feeds into wanting to leave their job roles.

Let’s start with the good news: of the respondents to our Salary Survey, under 10% were actively unhappy with their jobs. Considering the turbulent times the economy has gone through in recent years, this is a great thing to see, and hopefully is a trend that will continue going forward. 17% were somewhat unhappy, which is still quite a small percentage; however, there are signs that people might be dissatisfied with their role without knowing it, with 17% saying they were neither happy nor unhappy. Most respondents indicated they were comfortable in their job role, but some did tick the neutral option. This was the more likely response the older the respondents were: only 17% of respondents aged 17-25 said they were neutral, while that number jumped to 33% for those aged 58 and above. There could be several reasons why respondents have indicated they were neutral. Still, it is also possible that people may have chosen this option over being overly pessimistic about their company. As the results are anonymous, however, it would be hoped that people would be willing to be honest. Regarding gender balance, the results are alike, with both men and women coming in with the same results: 23% of respondents were neutral, while 77% were happy with their jobs. The broad consensus is that people are comfortable in their job roles, although some may be less satisfied with their work than they were previously.

People’s happiness statistics can also be compared with our data on people’s reasons for leaving job roles. How happy people can be is also a reason for leaving jobs, and the reasons why people might be unhappy in their roles might be seen in this data. While just under half of respondents are not actively looking to move, 24% are likely to move, and 31% are undecided. One common reason for leaving across every section of the country surveyed was wanting better progression opportunities, with London seeing 26% of people moving to progress in their careers. While, for some, this will be to advance their careers, for others, it may be because they aren’t finding fulfillment in their roles and, as such, won’t be as happy as others. Workplace culture may also feed into this: if people feel the company's culture doesn’t fit them, their happiness may slide. Culture came up in several areas, with 12% of respondents in the Southwest and Wales saying culture was a factor for leaving, closely followed by 11% in the Northwest. Companies should bear these things in mind when trying to retain staff. If employees are no longer happy, they may want to move. Keeping staff happy will also be an excellent way to recruit new staff and grow your company.

Overall, then, it’s good to see happiness levels so high. People feel happy at work, which is a good thing to see from companies. However, becoming complacent about happiness would be a mistake, as a lot can change quickly. Not ensuring employees are happy may make them feel undervalued and want to move. We will continue to look at and comment upon it as time progresses.