More than half of your employees are unhappy at work

Do you ever get the feeling that your staff aren't entirely happy with their job? Perhaps you've noticed the glum look on their faces or have heard a constant stream of sighs throughout the office. Well, you're not alone.

According to the JobsCentral Work Happiness Survey Report 2017, the Singapore workforce have little to cheer about when it’s time to go to work. Among 1,843 respondents, aged 16 years and above, a high 65% of the respondents indicated that they are not satisfied with their current job.

The respondents recorded an average Overall Work Happiness Indicator Score of 46.8 out of 100, marking a record low since the survey begun in 2009.

This year's survey found that workers in translation and editorial were the happiest in Singapore with an average Work Happiness Indicator score of 75.8. This is followed by staff in public relations (60.1), marketing (60.0), research and development (59.2), and legal (59.1), rounding up the top five happiest workers in Singapore.

Human resources professionals came in eighth with an average Work Happiness Indicator score of 55.2.

On the flip side, those who felt most unhappy at work are from administrative (49.6), management (49.5), merchandising / purchasing (49.2), operations (48.3), and customer support (47.0).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, respondents placed the most importance towards their salary, rating it with an average importance weight of 9.11. Work-life balance (8.12) came in second while good relations with colleagues (7.32), interesting work (7.04) and acceptable work demands (6.86) made the top 5. This suggests that direct monetary and tangible rewards may be the key to a happier workforce.

Substantiating that, a majority of employees (34.6%) indicated their desire for a pay raise from their employers.

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Yet, high wages doesn't necessarily make employees happy. Employees commanding a monthly salary range between S$9,500 to S$9,999 were found to be the happiest with an average score of 57.3. However, the score dipped to 56.7 for those earning S$10,000 and above.

Commenting on the implication of the results, Sam Ng, managing director of CareerBuilder Singapore, said: "The survey results suggest that the majority of the respondents may perceive that they are being underpaid. This can potentially have a huge impact on the engagement level of employees, and lead to a highly unmotivated workforce if left unaddressed."

To combat the notion of being underpaid, he suggested that employers should gather feedback from their staff and together develop an ideal compensation package to boost overall happiness at work.

Photo / 123RF