Workers in the education sector amongst happiest in the UK
Employees working in education have some of the highest levels of job satisfaction in the UK, according to new research, with 73% of staff prepared to recommend their company to a friend.
Education ranked third, above the insurance and automotive sectors, for overall employee happiness, with banking and the legal sectors topping the table, despite their reputation as industries with high pressure and a poor work-life balance.
The research, conducted by equity management platform Vestd, compared businesses across a range of sectors, looking at CEO approval ratings and “recommend to a friend” scores on Glassdoor, as well as average employee tenure according to LinkedIn.
Its data shows 73% of workers in education approve of their CEO and staff stayed with their employer for almost five years on average.
Explaining the findings, Ifty Nasir, CEO of Vestd, said that keeping workers happy was “just the start” for business leaders. He said:
“Feeling happy in your job is a massive part of your general wellbeing and employers are increasingly aware of the importance of staff satisfaction, but happiness should be just the start.
“Taking employee happiness to the next level and generating employee engagement, where staff are highly motivated and genuinely invested in their company’s success, can have a huge impact on the bottom line.
“Engaged staff are significantly more likely to be more productive and contribute to a positive workplace culture – key ingredients for any growing company.”
Also in the top five of the happiest workers are those in the insurance and automotive sectors. While logistics workers sat at the bottom of the table with only 48% of staff prepared to recommend their company to a friend and only 59% approved of their CEO.
The travel sector was second from bottom with just 58% of workers recommending their company and 64% rating their CEO. The recruitment industry had the lowest employee tenure with workers staying on average three years.
The top 10 sectors with the happiest workers
| Sector | CEO approval rating (% based on Glassdoor) | Recommend to a friend score (% based on Glassdoor) | Median employee tenure (in years, based on LinkedIn) |
| Banking | 84% | 75% | 6.2 |
| Legal | 85% | 71% | 4.5 |
| Education | 73% | 73% | 4.9 |
| Insurance | 73% | 65% | 5.9 |
| Automotive | 76% | 65% | 5.3 |
| IT | 80% | 71% | 4.2 |
| Financial services | 76% | 71% | 4.5 |
| Recruitment | 82% | 75% | 3.3 |
| Manufacturing | 70% | 64% | 5.5 |
| Utilities | 75% | 62% | 5.1 |
Responses