Yahoo Finance Revealed: The unhappiest workers in the UK
Teachers and retail staff are among the UK’s most unhappy workers.
Charity workers, social workers and people who earn a living in the property industry are also among the most glum in the country.
Poor rates of pay, plenty of stress and a lack of support from their boss all added to making workers in these areas Britain’s unhappiest.
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In contrast, those who worked in human resources, consultancy and construction were among the happiest employees.
The research was carried out by online jobs marketplace Adzuna, which questioned more than 1,000 people.
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It learned that two out of five workers believed they were paid less than their colleagues, while only a fraction (6%) thought they were paid more.
More than half (53%) admitted they have no idea of their true value to employers, and said they would never discuss salaries with a co-worker.
As a result, just 13.6% said they had successfully lobbied their boss for a pay rise.
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“British workplaces are rife with uncertainty over pay,” said Adzuna co-founder Doug Monro.
“An ingrained lack of transparency over earnings and salary bandings has created a culture of conviction others must be paid more than us.
“Combined with a lack of knowledge of what our own skills are worth to employers in today’s job market, this spells a recipe for disaster for ambitious career builders.”
In July, it was revealed that a third of teachers who had qualified in 2011 had quit the profession within five years – citing poor pay and stress as chief drivers.
The Adzuna research comes a day after it was revealed female retail workers are paid and average of £4,315 less per year than their male colleagues.
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According to new data from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) and XpertHR, women in the retail industry earn 19.4% less per year.
However, the retail sector had a 7.4% lower gender pay gap than the UK average.
The CMI research also showed female managers earn close to £12,000 less on average than their male counterparts.
The five happiest careers in the UK:
HR
Consultancy
Trade and construction
PR & marketing
Energy, oil and gas
The five unhappiest careers in the UK:
Retail
Teacher
Charity
Social work
Property
