Brits spend half their annual working hours dissatisfied – and celebrities and politicians aren’t immune

As well as celebrities and politicians, many employees spend half their work life in displeasure, says Fish4Jobs

Brits spend half their annual working hours dissatisfied – and celebrities and politicians aren’t immune

Photo credit: Drop of Light / Shutterstock.com

If you’re having a bad day at work then don’t worry, nothing is out of the ordinary. In fact, it’s statistically possible half your working life will be spent in dissatisfaction, new research discovers. So it’s perhaps best to get used to it.

In a survey of 2,000 UK employees, Fish4Jobs, the job site, found 32% face displeasure during half their annual working hours. On average that means 861 hours and 12 minutes every year on the job are destined to cause dismay. Moreover, when adding up the figures over the decades, the average lifetime sees six years and six months of dissatisfaction.

Depending on the sector your business operates in will determine how dissatisfied your staff are. Findings show 37% of customer service executives, 34% of hospitality employees, 34% of administrators, 33% of shop workers and 28% of nurses and care workers top the list with the highest proportions of dismay.

Moreover, if you operate in Wolverhampton prepare to greet some sad faces in the office, given 60% of the city’s residents make it the number one spot for unhappy workers. In fact, it may be worth flying employees north judging by Aberdeen’s mere 5% of dissatisfied workers awarding the city the lowest rank.

However, even those basking in the limelight see their fair share of displeasure, with the revered England manager Gareth Southgate having potentially faced 1291.5 hours of job dissatisfaction despite his incredible World Cup performance. Although, it’s perhaps more surprising to learn prime minister Theresa May could have spent merely two and a half months in dismay – even more still over foreign secretary Boris Johnson’s 72 days if he reached two years in the role.

Commenting on the findings Becky Spelman, a Harley Street psychologist, said: “Millions of people in ordinary jobs experience dissatisfaction with their roles too. This can happen to anyone but it is especially common among people who suspect that their work makes no positive contribution to the world, who are having problems getting along with their colleagues or supervisor or who simply can’t get a handle on the stress they are experiencing.”

If work isn’t going great for staff know that they’re probably not alone. After all, misery loves company. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Angus Shaw
Angus Shaw
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