Nearly every UK worker (90%) is unhappy at work, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2023 report.
The UK rate of engagement at work (10%) remains one of the lowest in Europe, ranking near the bottom among peer countries (33 out of 38), with countries such as the US reporting triple the number of engaged employees (31%). The dissatisfied feeling among workers is not unique to the UK, with just 13% across Europe feeling engaged at work, with the lowest rates of engagement reported in France (7%) and Italy (5%).
Over the past year, there has been an abundance of negative news in the UK which could be a possible reason for the growing levels of worry, stress and anger for its workforce. The survey results reflect this sombre mood, with nearly a fifth (19%) of UK professionals reporting feeling angry at work – a significant four-point increase on last year’s study, the highest increase across Europe.
Despite this, most UK workers are not planning on leaving their unfulfilling jobs. The findings reveal that the confidence in the UK’s current job market has declined by four points, with just 36% of people believing that now is a good time to find a job. Falling UK confidence bucked the trend of growing job-market confidence in the rest of Europe, where more than half of the population (56%, up 12 points year-on-year) believe now is a good time to look for a new role.
There has been speculation about an impending recession in the UK and this could explain why job confidence in the UK is considerably lower than much of the rest of Europe. People may be opting to stay in their current role as this is the ‘safer’ option, rather than risk being last-in first-out if a recession hits.
With employee engagement at an all-time low and rising levels of anger, companies must act fast to turn the tide on this trend. Amid economic instability employers may not be able to incentivise their employees with renumerations and benefits.
“The UK continues to perform poorly on employee engagement. To tackle widespread disengagement, businesses need to be championing employees and giving them the right tools and resources to be productive and purposeful. Additionally, it’s important for employees to spend time together,” said Anna Sawyer, Gallup Partner.