Almost half of employees unhappy with their careers

One in five say a pay hike will make them happier.

Almost half (42%) of Hong Kong employees have reported that they are not happy with their jobs with some citing that that the only way to achieve greater happiness is to resign and find a new career elsewhere, according to Job Happiness Survey from jobsDB. 

Only 3 in 10 employees have reported that they are happy with their jobs whilst 28% have admitted to feeling neutral as Hong Kong’s overall score was a 4.45 on a 10-point happiness scale. 

Hong Kongers believe that uninspiring leadership, unsatisfactory career development and lack of training diminishes career satisfaction with the unhappiest job specialisation found in IT. 

Job happiness appears to diminish as one goes higher the corporate ladder as those in managerial positions reported higher levels of unhappiness due to unsatisfactory work schedule, job location and salary whilst entry level employees are the happiest due to solid company reputation and amiable colleagues. 

On a regional scale, Hong Kong emerged as the most pessimistic market in Asia Pacific with respondents expecting their happiness to drop further by 0.27 points over the next six months. 

The survey revealed that 21% of workers believe that a pay hike would increase their happiness whilst 11% admitted that receiving recognition and awards would buoy their job satisfaction.

Changes to working environments can also give the motivational boost to make employees happier, for example a change in job function or responsibilities (7%), a promotion (7%), going on holiday (7%) or improving working hours (5%).

“With Hong Kong’s employment rate dropping to a near 20-year low, our survey reveals that many employees are choosing to find new jobs as they feel unhappy about their current roles, with those in managerial roles proving to be the unhappiest group among all levels. This should be a warning shot to employers who need to understand that their employees will be quick to move away from jobs that fail to meet their expectations,” said Jobs DB Hong Kong Limited Country Manager Isaac Shao.