Happiness in the workplace still proving elusive

60 years ago we worked 30% longer and took half as many holidays. For most, pay was poor. Discrimination in the workplace was widespread, and permitted by law. Work was often hard, and for working class men it was often dangerous too. So it’s a sobering thought to think that several decades later, measures of anxiety in the workplace have risen, to the point that stress has replaced back pain as the most common cause of long-term sick leave, according to The Guardian. What’s going wrong?

The obvious answer is that no-one knows, or it might simply be an effect of our increased willingness to complain. Some of the reasons suggested in the article might be:

- Technology seems to have spawned more gadgets to bind us to the workplace.
- Unlike the 1950s, our careers are less likley to follow a clear path, bringing pressure to adapt constantly and move with the times.
- A perception that jobs are no longer as secure.
- A worry that somehow many of our jobs might not be ‘meaningful’ and hence are simply less rewarding.

The BBC carries the same story, with quotes like “with the threat of unemployment an underlying concern even in good times, people do not seem much happier about their working lives and many exhibit the symptoms of work-related stress”. They also focus on the increasing role for women in the workplace. The increase in the number of workless homes may be linked to changes in the way we work, with fewer men in the workforce and more households with two earners.

Plenty to reflect on here. During a period in which the total workforce has risen by 25%, the volume of output has increased by 300%. Perhaps this massive increase in productivity is at the heart of the problem. Earlier blogs have looked at the growing problem of job dissatisfaction, and the rise of stress. This problem is not about to vanish, though it has inspired creative solutions.