Who's happier at work: Europeans or Americans?
Friday, 8. June 2007, 16:13:10
I've found the topic of comparing job happiness in Europe vs the US (based on the assumption that Europe is an example of a population that promotes a culture where people work to live and the US of one where people live to work) coming up frequently and recently, so decided to conduct my own personal survey. I asked friends in the US and Europe the same questions to see how the average answers compared. The results are in.
The population referenced is hardly a great or fair sample.. pretty much narrowed down to my friends and those who were willing to answer. But I kept it even sided. The folks are from the same age group, late 20s / early 30s. All are employed with professional-level jobs. I've also tried to spread representation from varying countries in Europe and from multiple cities in the US as much as possible. In any slighted case, here are the results for the pickin! Make what you will of it...
(Answers were rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being most negative and 10 most positive)
Something doesn't seem to add up to me. The numbers on the right side seem lower all the way down, but at the end overall here, it's pretty even. Innerestin. Well I guess happiness is relative. In that case I hope that as the world gets smaller, we lean toward the more pleasant side. Probably not!
The population referenced is hardly a great or fair sample.. pretty much narrowed down to my friends and those who were willing to answer. But I kept it even sided. The folks are from the same age group, late 20s / early 30s. All are employed with professional-level jobs. I've also tried to spread representation from varying countries in Europe and from multiple cities in the US as much as possible. In any slighted case, here are the results for the pickin! Make what you will of it...
(Answers were rated on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being most negative and 10 most positive)
- How do you feel about going into your current workplace?
Europeans say: 7 -- Americans say: 7
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- How well do you think you perform the duties required by you?
Europeans say: 9 -- Americans say: 8
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- How challenging is your work?
Europeans say: 6.5 -- Americans say: 5.5
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- How much liberty are you given to be creative in your job?
Europeans say: 7.5 -- Americans say: 4
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- How would you rate the effectiveness of your operational processes or management?
Europeans say: 5 -- Americans say: 4
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- How would you rate your financial compensation for the responsibilities required of you?
Europeans say: 8 -- Americans say: 5
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- How would you rate the quality of overall benefits (time off, health, etc) you attain?
Europeans say: 9.5 -- Americans say: 6
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- How much do you enjoy working with your co-workers?
Europeans say: 7 -- Americans say: 6
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- How well do you respect your co-workers?
Europeans say: 7 -- Americans say: 7
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- How would rate your overall satisfaction with your job?
Europeans say: 7.5 -- Americans say: 6
Something doesn't seem to add up to me. The numbers on the right side seem lower all the way down, but at the end overall here, it's pretty even. Innerestin. Well I guess happiness is relative. In that case I hope that as the world gets smaller, we lean toward the more pleasant side. Probably not!
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