U.K. Office Workers Are Less Happy Than Counterparts Around the World, Survey Shows

Office workers in the U.K. are less happy with their jobs compared to counterparts in other countries, according to a survey released earlier this month by Israeli coworking real estate company MindSpace Ltd. Of those questioned, just 76% of U.K. workers said they were happy or very happy with their jobs, compared to an average of 84% among the countries surveyed.

For the survey, conducted on behalf of MindSpace by London-based marketing research company OnePoll, 5,000 office workers in seven countries—the U.S., the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands, Israel, Poland, and Romania—were questioned.

Israeli and German workers tied, with 81% of those questioned in each country saying they were happy or very happy with their jobs, compared to 94% in the U.S., 91% in the Netherlands, and 83% in Poland.

Of those who are self-employed, 73% said they were happy with their jobs compared to just 25% of employees. In general, the survey showed men tend to be happier in their jobs than women, except in Poland. Age was also a factor, with millennials reporting their satisfaction to be higher than that of workers aged 40-50. Rank appears to bring joy, too, with 45% of managers and business owners reporting they were happy, compared to 27% of general employees.

Of the people who said they were very happy with their jobs, 75% said they had a strong sense of purpose, 90% said they felt valued, and 70% said their workplace was flexible.