Job satisfaction
It’s not a great time for employment. The private sector has been feeling the effects of the recession for a couple of years now and has responded accordingly – we’ve seen job losses, recruitment moratoriums, pay freezes (or cuts) and the cancellation of Christmas parties. Thanks to planned spending cuts in both Ireland and the UK, traditionally safe public sector jobs are now also under threat. There’s pretty much no one left whose job hasn’t been touched by the financial crisis at some level.
So why is job satisfaction climbing?
A recent survey carried out by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that job satisfaction in the UK climbed seven points* in the last quarter, a phenomenon they describe as a ‘fixed grin’ response to uncertainty. In the words of Oscar Wilde (who I’m not obsessed with, but who does provide some pretty apposite quotes): “The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.”
*The satisfaction score climbed from +35 to +42, where the score is measured by subtracting the percentage of employees dissatisfied with their jobs from the percentage satisfied.
