Member Article

Workers can't get no satisfaction

Nearly a third of British workers are unhappy at work and cost their employers more than £40 million a day in daydreaming or trying to find a way out of their job, new research shows.

The research, commissioned by learndirect, reveals the state of the nation’s satisfaction levels across different jobs. When asked to rate the factors that made them unhappy at work, a third stated that being in a ‘dead end’ job through a lack of career progression and challenges was the biggest reason. Poor salaries and perks such as holidays was an issue for 25% of workers and 23% said they spent too much time behind a desk with no opportunity to meet new people.

Donna Dawson, psychologist and behavioural expert, said: “We all have a moan now and again about our jobs, but when the dissatisfaction starts to negatively impact on our lives it’s time to take action. It doesn’t have to be radical action, there are lots of options to change what you’re doing and how you feel. The most important thing is to focus specifically on what we want to change - writing these things down helps us to decide whether these things can be changed within our present job, or whether we need to move on.”

Gareth Dent from learndirect Careers Advice said: “This research uncovers a significant number of people who want to change their career but don’t know where to start and with nearly one in twenty people admitting that their dissatisfaction has got worse in the last year, it’s a worrying trend. However, it seems people know what they want in a job - getting on with colleagues, doing something worthwhile and being challenged top the wish list - which is really positive.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .