For he's a jolly good worker: Singaporeans happiest at work since 2009

Survey reveals happiness index hits 59.8.

According to JobsCentral Work Happiness Indicator Survey, Singapore workers are the happiest at work since 2009 when the annual JobsCentral Work Happiness Indicator Survey first started.

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With a score of 59.8 versus 57.4 in 2011, this increase of 4.1 percent is a marked improvement in worker sentiments even though the score still indicates a general less than moderately happy workforce.

The lowest JobsCentral Work Happiness score of 55.5 points was registered in 2010.

A total of 3,299 respondents took the 2012 JobsCentral Work Happiness Indicator Survey, which was conducted online from September to October this year. This survey has been conducted every year since 2009.

Previously ranked third for three consecutive years, ‘Salary’ is now the most important factor to workers followed by ‘Work-life balance’ and ‘Advancement opportunities’ that are tied in second position. 22.5 percent of workers ranked ‘Salary’ as the most important attribute of a job, giving it the highest score of 8.63 (out of a maximum score of 12) and leads the joint second-ranked attributes at 7.37 points.

The 2012 survey also saw an increased importance placed on work-life balance. This attribute climbed seven spots this year to the second position and was chosen by 13.4 percent of respondents to be their most important work attribute.

“The labour market in Singapore has remained tight and worker mobility is still high. This means that people have choices when it comes to jobs and if they are unhappy with their current ones, they would simply get new jobs. We have also seen wage pressures across all sectors and workers are getting a higher salary, which is always an important factor for work happiness,” says Lim Der Shing, CEO of JobsCentral Group.