Where Are the World’s Happiest Workers?


Ideas of happiness vary across cultures and between individuals but when it comes to the workplace, employers still need to be able to answer this question. After all, unhappy workers are more likely to quit their jobs, or perhaps worse, stay and spread dissatisfaction to their colleagues.

To get the answers, we took a hard look at the data on workplace happiness, analysing the job satisfaction ratings on the largest online resource of employer reviews in the world.

Indeed Company Pages host 10 million employee reviews. Here, current and former employees assign their companies an overall ranking from one to five stars, and also rate them individually by five additional measures: management, job security and advancement, culture, work-life balance and compensation and benefits.

In The Indeed Job Happiness Index 2016 we rank 35 countries as well as major US and European cities for overall job satisfaction. The result? Data-driven insight into who’s happiest where, and what it is that makes them feel that way.


1. A global perspective on workplace happiness

Our global ranking features a striking blend of advanced economies and developing nations. In fact, Indeed data shows that employees report high levels of satisfaction in diverse economic conditions, and the happiest workers do not necessarily live in the wealthiest countries.

We also delve into the factors influencing these results and identify the impact of work-life balance, management, culture, job security and compensation have on employee satisfaction worldwide. We also take a look at countries where employees report the lowest levels of satisfaction and explore the possible causes of their dissatisfaction.

2. The importance of location

Location within a country is also highly significant factor when it comes to employee satisfaction. For instance, Indeed reviews data enables us to rank Australian cities by concentration of “happy” workers, and as the list below reveals, there is a big difference between bustling hubs like Melbourne and Sydney and Perth, which has suffered as a result of the end of the mining boom:

How do cities in Australia compare for job satisfaction?

The significance of location is explored further in the report, as we found that happiest countries in the global list are not necessarily home to the happiest major cities. For instance, London places second for job satisfaction in Europe—which is much higher than the overall placing of the UK on the global index. Stockholm and Rome also rank higher than the countries of which they are a part.

The Indeed Job Happiness Index also ranks 35 major metros in the United States for happiness, and shines a spotlight on the most satisfied jobs around the world—and what reviewers are saying about them.

To find out who is happiest and where they live, read the full report.

Learn more about leveraging your employer brand on Indeed Company Pages.

Read the full report on job happiness