Does gender, geography and profession dictate your level of happiness?
February 2009 - Whilst the overall picture is not pretty, it seems that gender, age and geography play a part in UK workplace blues.
Whilst nearly one in four of us are not happy at work, this rises to nearer one in three men compared to one in five women. And in terms of age, those in the under 25 range feel the most vulnerable with 37% saying they are unhappy at work in our latest survey.
Happiness by region
| East of England | 35% unhappy at work |
| North East | 29% unhappy at work |
| North West | 28% unhappy at work |
| London | 27% unhappy at work |
| Midlands | 25% unhappy at work |
| South East | 25% unhappy at work |
| Wales | 24% unhappy at work |
| Yorkshire | 24% unhappy at work |
| Scotland | 22% unhappy at work |
| South West | 17% unhappy at work |
Happiness by profession
It was not altogether surprising to find that 38% of banking and financial services workers are unhappy, but they are eclipsed by nearly half of HR professionals who are still top of the misery tables at 46%. The Public Sector remains the most positive reporting 42% of workers as happy or very happy at work, with the Legal (38%)and IT professionals (39%) in close contention for topping the happiness charts.
| HR | 46% unhappy at work |
| Banking & Financial services | 38% unhappy at work |
| Sales/media/marketing | 35% unhappy at work |
| IT & Telecoms | 32% unhappy at work |
| Public Sector | 21% unhappy at work |
| Accounting & Finance | 16% unhappy at work |
| Legal | 10% unhappy at work |
These figures show some startling differences between types of workers, but it is worth noting that whilst some areas may report lower levels of unhappiness, it doesn't necessarily mean that they have the most happy workers and vice versa. As the recession bites we are seeing more people entrenched in their roles, neither very happy nor very unhappy. Neil Wilson, managing director of Badenoch & Clark says, "It's easy for employers to pay lip service to the issue of happiness in the workplace. But when it comes to business critical measures such as employee productivity and retention rates, happiness is a central contributing factor."