Job happiness more important that wages

A job that offers healthy relationships with colleagues and interesting objectives is more attractive to employees than a high wage, new research from British vocational and research group City & Guilds suggests.

The City and Guilds Happiness Index reports 57% of workers surveyed are keeping their current job due to a strong interest in their work, 56% say their colleagues give them motivation to get up in the morning, while only 46% say a high wage is keeping them on.

The report also finds workers are unhappy with their employers, saying more flexible working arrangements such as working from home and higher bonuses should be awarded.

City & Guilds managing director Bob Coates told morethanbusiness.com that keeping employees happy is an agenda that employers can “no longer afford to ignore”.

“Companies can no longer rely on those established reward and recognition policies that fail to resonate with employees and do little to combat stress levels in the workplace,” he says.

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