News

January 25, 2013

Happy Mondays: levels of employee satisfaction rise

Feelings of job satisfaction, security and happiness at work have significantly increased, according to two new surveys.

Employment specialist Reed's 2013 Salary and Market Insight Report finds that more people love their work and have more confidence in what they can get from the jobs market.

The survey of 1,500 employees and employers, carried out in late 2012, showed that 76% of those in employment are "very satisfied", "satisfied" or "neutral" about their position at the start of 2013. And while 28.4% felt "unsecure" or "very unsecure" at the end of 2011, that figure has dropped to 25.8% ahead of 2013.

In addition, 84.6% of business owners feel "secure" or "very secure" in their jobs ahead of 2013.

Commenting on the findings, Tom Lovell, group managing director at Reed, said: "After years of negative news regarding the fortunes of employers and employees alike, it's good to see that things are improving for those in the working world."

Meanwhile a government-sponsored study – the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study (WERS) – published on 23 January 2013, also highlights higher levels of satisfaction and commitment in the workplace.

The fieldwork for WERS took place between March 2011 and June 2012 and involved interviews with 2,700 managers and 1,000 workers. It found that:

• 20% of employees are satisfied or very satisfied with all aspects of their job measured, compared to 16% in 2004
• the percentage of employees who said they shared the values of their organisation is up from 55% in 2004 to 65%
• the number of high-training workplaces has risen from 35% to 41%

Jo Swinson, employment relations minister, said: "This important study gives us a valuable insight into what is going on inside the workplace. I am very pleased to see that job satisfaction levels have increased and that more employees report that they share the values of the organisation."