Unhappy Workers May Reduce Global GDP By As Much As 9%, Gallup Estimates (cnn.com) 92
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: Employees' negative daily emotions and lack of well-being can ultimately hurt worker engagement -- and the economy, according to a new report released this week. Gallup, in its "State of the Global Workplace," estimates that low employee engagement costs the global economy $8.9 trillion, or 9% of global GDP. The report includes findings from its latest annual World Poll, which surveyed 128,278 employees in more than 140 countries last year. That poll found that roughly 20% of workers globally reported feeling lonely, angry or sad on a daily basis. And 41% on average say they feel stress. Those most likely to say they feel lonely were younger workers (22%), employees who worked remotely full-time (25%) and those who felt most disengaged on the job (31%).
While work isn't always the cause of a person's negative daily emotions, employers should still be concerned. That's because work can either improve or worsen employees' well-being. On the one hand, the Gallup report noted, "when employees find their work and work relationships meaningful, employment is associated with high levels of daily enjoyment and low levels of all negative daily emotions. Notably, half of employees who are engaged at work are thriving in life overall." On the other, researchers found that being disengaged at work can negatively affect a person's wellbeing as much as -- or more than -- not having a job at all. "Employees who dislike their jobs tend to have high levels of daily stress and worry, as well as elevated levels of all other negative emotions," they wrote. "On many wellbeing items (stress, anger, worry, loneliness), being actively disengaged at work is equivalent to or worse than being unemployed."
The poll found that last year only 23% of employees were engaged at work, unchanged from the year prior. Gallup defines an engaged employee as someone "highly involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace. They are psychological 'owners,' drive performance and innovation, and move the organization forward." But those who said they were not engaged rose by 3 percentage points to 62%. These are employees characterized as "psychologically unattached to their work and company. Because their engagement needs are not being fully met, they are putting time but not energy or passion into their work."
While work isn't always the cause of a person's negative daily emotions, employers should still be concerned. That's because work can either improve or worsen employees' well-being. On the one hand, the Gallup report noted, "when employees find their work and work relationships meaningful, employment is associated with high levels of daily enjoyment and low levels of all negative daily emotions. Notably, half of employees who are engaged at work are thriving in life overall." On the other, researchers found that being disengaged at work can negatively affect a person's wellbeing as much as -- or more than -- not having a job at all. "Employees who dislike their jobs tend to have high levels of daily stress and worry, as well as elevated levels of all other negative emotions," they wrote. "On many wellbeing items (stress, anger, worry, loneliness), being actively disengaged at work is equivalent to or worse than being unemployed."
The poll found that last year only 23% of employees were engaged at work, unchanged from the year prior. Gallup defines an engaged employee as someone "highly involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace. They are psychological 'owners,' drive performance and innovation, and move the organization forward." But those who said they were not engaged rose by 3 percentage points to 62%. These are employees characterized as "psychologically unattached to their work and company. Because their engagement needs are not being fully met, they are putting time but not energy or passion into their work."
Remember that old tagline (Score:5, Funny)
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
Re:Remember that old tagline (Score:5, Insightful)
Guaranteed there’s CEOs right now thinking that's the solution.
Re: (Score:2)
Or they'll revert to the tried and true method of increasing output while decreasing expenses by simply owning their employees.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Boomer + job fulfilment + prosperty gospel of work (Score:3)
This is the long evolution of the 1980s 'work motivational' speakers and their 'work is personal fulfillment' 'prosperity gospel.
Prior to the boomers, work was seen as a way to put food on the table and a roof over your head and not a personal fulfillment path.
The unhappiness is also compounded in that we've spent the last 50 years training and enabling groups to complain their way to more government programs, special handouts, special favoritism in laws and special you can do not wrong media bias in their
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
A place I used to work at had those motivational posters. They were often quite depressing. I remember one that was talking about "quality" being an endless road, with a photo of a man running towards a big hill. I felt tired and achy just looking at it.
Another had a haystack with a silver needle in it, and then some gold coloured needles that were harder to spot. What a crap design, which fool ordered gold coloured needles and didn't think to also order a magnet for sorting them from the chaff?
I suppose th
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Remember that old tagline (Score:4, Insightful)
https://www.livescience.com/34241-democratic-republican-parties-switch-platforms.html [livescience.com]
I know you wont read it, but those outside of the USA and immune to the uneducated rot can read the real history as to what happened to Lincoln's party.
https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/07/14/331298996/why-did-black-voters-flee-the-republican-party-in-the-1960s [npr.org]
FYI, this is also why Republicans hate education, because they cant throw down bumper sticker sayings without being called out as ignorant.
Re: (Score:2)
https://www.livescience.com/34241-democratic-republican-parties-switch-platforms.html [livescience.com]
Interesting article, but what brought the biggest switch was when Nixon opened the republican party’s doors wide-open to the racists who fled the democratic party after Johnson passed the civil rights act.
Re:Remember that old tagline (Score:4, Informative)
Ah, the Republican amendment.
It was a Republican President that spoke out for the repeal and outlawing of slavery in the USA.
Correct. Unfortunately for your narrative, you forget to mention that the Republicans of the Civil War era were progressives. Or do you think that conservatives from that time would have passed the Reconstruction Amendments?
That's right; the parties "switched". Read up on Dixiecrats and Truman beginning integration (as opposed to segregation). In a nutshell: the racists abandoned the Democrats at that point and moved to the GOP.
Re:Remember that old tagline (Score:4, Informative)
Right, and nothing's changed?
100% of all "Dixiecrats", the right wing of the Democrats, left to become GOP within five years after LBJ (Democrat) signed the Civil Rights Act.
ALL RACISTS and white suprememcists - like you - are GOP.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
That's funny, because it's the Democrats that want to pass out special privilege for being non-white. Sounds very racists to me. Shouldn't we all be judged on merit and our abilities instead of the color of our skin? Why do Democrats constantly think non-white need more help to be successful? You think you are not racist but then you some how think you know what's best for those poor POCs. It's a very elitist position to take.
We should be treating everyone as equals and actually be color blind but instead D
Re: (Score:2)
It was a Republican President that spoke out for the repeal and outlawing of slavery in the USA.
It was the DumboCraps of the Day that were actively trying to retain slavery ... and probably had Lincoln shot by a disaffected John Wilkes Boothe in a theater.
Yes, but this was BEFORE.
BEFORE Nixon opened his arms to the hordes of formerly Democratic Party racists who left the party in droves after the Democrats passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voter’s Rights Act.
("American Psychosis - A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party went Crazy" — David Corn, 2022)
The last good republican president was Ike Eisenhower.
Less families, anti-family laws, courts and hr (Score:2)
Given there has been a dramatic rise in childless women (1), people not in a long term relationship (2), and rise in divorce with its negative effects on first boys, then girls post-divorce, working later in life for just food and a roof has less purpose
1) https://www.statista.com/stati... [statista.com], people not in a relationship
2) https://www.pewresearch.org/so... [pewresearch.org]
Re: (Score:2)
Ah, an incel who believes in "quiverfull", and thus needs to be gelded.
Re: (Score:2)
Be happy, Be productive (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
So this means that companies will hire a lot of people and work half of them 80 hours per week for 2 weeks, then offer them nothing for the next two weeks while the other half will be working the other 80 hours (page 592).
Re: (Score:2)
I seriously doubt this because all those part timers will still get benefits beyond wages. Better, from a business standpoint, to just get one person to work some OT instead of hiring additional labor that requires additional benefits. Your healthcare cost to the company don't change based on your hours worked. You don't get more vacation for working more hours (at least not at any company I've been at).
Everyone that's so scared of project 2025 sounds just like the other people scared of the green new deal.
Re: (Score:2)
Or else get your pay docked for stealing from the company
In some companies filling out your timesheet to say you worked so many hours, then not actually doing any work during those hours, is considered a termination offense.
Just make sure you work for a company that does not believe in Terminate With Extreme Prejudice ... and that's not a racist rejoinder if you truly understand the phrase in Italics.
Re: (Score:2)
I honestly wonder if UPS does that. Their delivery people are always smiling and upbeat when they visit. I'm sure it's not the prospect of meeting me - you should see the Royal Mail guy's face when I open the door.
Are they contractually required to be like that? Or is UPS driver just a really amazing job?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: Be happy, Be productive (Score:2)
At McDonald's they had VHS tapes (yes it was the early 90s) in the break room which you were supposed to watch. One of the training videos was on reminding people to smile and how to be friendly. It was something that people were also encouraged to do and corrected on by management.
Re: (Score:2)
At McDonald's they had VHS tapes (yes it was the early 90s) in the break room which you were supposed to watch. One of the training videos was on reminding people to smile and how to be friendly. It was something that people were also encouraged to do and corrected on by management.
I've been in those types of breakrooms. For me it was a grocery store. It never ceased to amaze me when entering that the bright, cheery people on the TV were making the tired, cranky people walk in the room frown even more deeply as they spotted them. Perfect congruence of managerial stupidity and HR driven "morale boosters" that really served as a morale depressor.
Re: (Score:2)
Sounds awful. I sometimes wonder about Japanese shop staff who have to listen to the shop's theme song on repeat all day every day too.
The obvious next step (Score:2, Insightful)
"How much would it cost to make them happier to the point where they would be maximally productive in relation to what they produce?"
Because there's a sweet spot in this. The societal question here is where is the limit, and are we too high or too low on it. 9% quoted could actually be below the sweet spot, or above it, or at it. By itself this 9% assessment holds no value in the context of the study, because it could be that reducing that number to 8% would cost 20%. Or it would cost 0.02%. Or it would hav
Re:The obvious next step (Score:4, Insightful)
You can't buy true happiness, being respected and treated well at work will long way I don't need parties, and gimmicks to make me happy, as long as you pay me enough not to be too stressed about money I am good. The thing that make me the most upset at work are dumb ass bosses making dumb ass decisions.
Re: (Score:2)
You can absolutely buy happiness. There was a fairly famous Chinese actress who correctly noted that she would rather cry at the back seat of a BMW, than smile on a back of a bike. Because that moment of tears will pass and she'll be happy for the rest of the time when rich, whereas smile of a girl on a back of cheap bike will rapidly fade when faced with daily reality of poverty.
What you cannot buy whoever is fulfillment. But that's because fulfillment is largely resource agnostic. It doesn't care if you'r
Re: (Score:2)
The thing that make me the most upset at work are dumb ass bosses making dumb ass decisions.
Here, here! There, there. Everywhere, where.
Re: (Score:2)
Well, psychologists have looked into this, and money definitely has hedonic value, but the marginal value diminishes the more money you have. In other words if you don't have enough money to pay the rent, groceries, or medical bills, getting a little money will definitely make you happier. But if you're a billionaire, more money has no marginal hedonic value even if you're really focused on getting more.
This is almost common sense, but what's surprising is how low the level of income has to be for margina
Wrong question (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Sure, but then the question again has to have the other half to be a full question, rather than expression of ideological blindness to reality: what is the net cost/benefit from all CEOs on average.
The verdict is in on this one. CEOs being a proxy for leadership in this question, we have come a long way from tree dwelling beings infested with parasites and overwhelming majority of us dying before the age of sexual maturity. Totality of human leadership so far has demonstrated level of excellence unseen in n
I'm disappointed in the internet today (Score:3)
I wanted to make a joke about how all they need to do is play Tori Amos's The Happy Worker song from the rather surreal (and quite underrated IMHO) 1992 movie Toys [imdb.com], but it appears no one has bothered to do the needful and upload a clip of that scene to YouTube.
If you haven't seen the movie, there's a scene where the factory workers are building toys while the song is implied to be literally playing through a PA system on the factory floor. Now, I was going to say something about how that might drive a person insane having to listen to the same song for your entire shift, every workday, but that's pretty much what Disney ride operators are subjected to. Make of that what you will.
Re: (Score:2)
Close enough...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re:I'm disappointed in the internet today (Score:4, Funny)
I'm thinking of The Simpsons when Marge says Tom Jones music always makes her feel better. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:2)
Haven't seen that movie, no big deal.
How about her video for that song, it is indeed interesting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Re: (Score:2)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=... [youtube.com]
Close enough? Also that album was from her band Y Kant Tori Read (which was terrible).
Re: (Score:2)
"a job you are happy with"
Well, that's the problem now, isn't it? I mean it sucks BECAUSE it is work. Take the most delightful, easy, wonderful activity and make it a job, you then get people empowered to tell you to do it faster, do it better, you're not good enough, you're underperforming, and the big zinger, no raise for you. Chocolate taster? Incredible wonderful activity. Make it a job, and it'll be a PITA. There's no getting around it, but then again, it can be less of a PITA, and that's pr
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
One of the jobs I applied for and most minded not getting was writing software for medical laboratory equipment. I think that would have been a way cool thing to do. It would also have resulted in my NOT having to move so far away from the home town and therefore friends and relatives. Instead got involved in defense work. Lots of people have problems with understanding how people can work to make weapons and things that make them better, but I just realize that it does not bear on whether or not the
Re: (Score:2)
Found the fuckup in denial. You are probably CEO-material. Fro a company that does not want a future.
Re: (Score:1)
Greedy bastards couldn't give a fuck about us (Score:3)
At best they'll try to gaslight us into believing we have it good and should be 'happy'.
At worst, they'll punish us for daring to talk about how we're not happy.
I'm firmly convinced that given their druthers, we'd literally be living in a modern-day version of feudalism, and if you're one of the peasant class and dared to complain, you -- and perhaps your family -- would just plain be killed outright.
Re: (Score:2)
He's not wrong....
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Modern capitalism is actually worse than feudalism in some ways - notably working hours and vacation time. Feudal peasants wouldn't ordinarily be killed just for complaining but they could easily get drafted into one of the king's wars.
Re: (Score:2)
I mean, young men (why not women?) still have to register for selective service in the USA. If we did bring back the draft, what choice would they have besides jail or soldiering?
Involved and enthusatic? (Score:3)
Re:Involved and enthusatic? (Score:5, Informative)
Who could be involved and enthusiastic about flipping burgers or working on an assembly line?
16-17 y/o me for one. I was happy to be making money, and I knew they were entry level jobs I'd grow out of.
Of course, back then (1976) 18 y/o minimum wage me could move out of the parent's house into an apartment of my own, have a car with insurance, support myself, and put myself through college. Can't do that nowdays, I don't care how good the pundits say the economy is doing.
Re:Involved and enthusatic? (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't care how good the pundits say the economy is doing.
That has always rubbed me the wrong way. The disconnect between pundits and reality is astonishing. Some of them say we are in the best economy ever, whereas our purchasing power is a fraction of what it was 40 years ago.
Re: (Score:3)
That certainly isn't wrong. Our purchasing power is a fraction of what it was 40 years ago.
40 years ago I had a not-so-great job but was realistically contemplating owning an airplane. A used airplane, for sure, but after an incredible raise in pay over the years, I don't believe I realistically could go there now. Nope, just looked at Trade-a-plane, and I was right, its out of the question. Things have gotten markedly worse. Lots of reasons for it, I believe I know many of them, but voicing them wi
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You'd have to make a well above average salary to afford the payments on that.
Which takes us back to the average income has significantly less buying power then 40 years ago.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Who could be involved and enthusiastic about flipping burgers or working on an assembly line? Most work, even technical work, is dull repetitive tasks and that does not even include all the non-productive busy work that most jobs seem to require (weekly reports, idiotic safety videos, and whatever). Making most employees really happy at their jobs is probably impossible (that is why it is a job and not a hobby) and even if it could be done, it would not be cost effective. Employers do not need employees to maximumly effective only adequately effective. It is cheaper to hire more than to get the best.
It is cheaper to hire more people only if productivity is linear in the number of people, and realistically, those jobs will likely be replaced by robots soon, if they haven't already.
For everyone else, making employees happier often costs little, and helps a lot. Giving employees a feeling of job security — a feeling that the company has their backs — costs surprisingly little. Just make it your official policy to not lay people off, and to find other jobs for workers within the company if yo
So what? (Score:5, Insightful)
get rid of TPS reports (Score:2)
get rid of TPS reports
Re: (Score:2)
get rid of TPS reports
And the cover sheets that are supposed to go with them
Re: (Score:2)
We are moving your desk to the basement.
Re: (Score:2)
I burn the building down!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
loop goto loop
RTO (Score:4, Insightful)
What? According to HR and board of directors that RTO is the fix for all morale and productivity problems! How could this have happened?
I love sitting in on disgusting toilets shared by 100 people and getting up at 5:30am and blowing $300 a month on gas so I can sit in teams meetings all day. PRoductivity is waay up now
Re: RTO (Score:2)
This reminds me of a pre-covid regular occurrence at the office centre where my company was set up.
Someone would regularly take the most epic sized shits and not flush. Or stuff so much toilet paper on top that the toilet was unusable until fixed.
When eventually this was found, the office manager would email every tenant threatening to hire a toilet police person and increase the service charges.
It was before "quiet quitting" , not sure this had a name.
Re: (Score:2)
Awe, poor capitalists and their money. (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm reminded of the cartoon where dinosaurs are watching in horror as "the big one" (an asteroid) smashes into the planet and the T Rex (who reminds me an awful lot of Mitch McConnell) looks up and goes, "OH SH*T! THE ECONOMY!!!" So what's the point of it all if we all have to live like vassals and serfs just to stay alive while The One Percent own seven different houses in 5 different states and can "only" afford eleven or twelve yachts? Evidently Covid-19 taught most (of the rich) people NOTHING. For that matter, most people are too uncomfortable (or too freaking stoopid) to contemplate how we bungled a global pandemic on the easy setting. But sure, force all of them to return to the office. That'll work. (Okay, not really.)
Re: (Score:2)
I'm reminded of the cartoon where dinosaurs are watching in horror as "the big one" (an asteroid) smashes into the planet and the T Rex (who reminds me an awful lot of Mitch McConnell) looks up and goes, "OH SH*T! THE ECONOMY!!!"
That's fucking hilarious!
That somehow doesn't bother me. (Score:1)
Happiness depends on boss, paycheck (Score:2)
Oh my profits! (Score:2)
A Sign of the Technofeudalism Dystopia We Live In (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
As always, you can blame calvinism. (Score:2)