UK businesses are suffering from falling levels of job satisfaction amongst employees, according to a new survey published today.
The figures, compiled by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development (CIPD), show that average job satisfaction is at +34 on the CIPD scale - calculated by subtracting the number of respondents who are satisfied with their job from the number that are not.
This is down significantly from the +48 figure seen in September 2009, when a higher proportion of workers were concerned about the potential for imminent job cuts.
Low job satisfaction is likely to have a dramatic and damaging effect on productivity. Dissatisfaction with work leads to low morale amongst staff - which can have an insidious impact on the efficiency of the business as a whole.
The survey also suggests that many employees are only prevented from leaving their jobs by the poor state of the jobs market. Over 60 per cent of those surveyed said they thought it would be difficult or very difficult to find another job if they lost their current position.
Perhaps just as worryingly, around half of all employees surveyed said they had experienced an increase in stress at work. Stress is amongst the most significant causes of sick leave, which many companies can currently ill afford to endure.
