Builders are the unhappiest workers in the UK

The UK’s unhappiest worker has been profiled as a 40-something male builder from Northern Ireland, in a new report.

Builders and bankers are the least happy in their jobs, according to the fifth annual City & Guilds Happiness Index.

The results suggested that financial rewards are not the key to job satisfaction. Only 44% of those polled said they remained in their job as a direct result of salary, with 57% saying that they remained with their employer because they were strongly interested in their job.

Bob Coates, managing director of City & Guilds, said: “With a clear impact on the bottom line, improving workplace happiness is rising up the business agenda and employers cannot afford to ignore it.

“Companies can no longer rely on those established reward and recognition policies that fail to resonate with employees and do little to combat stress levels in the workplace. By taking such a blinkered approach, they risk the rise of an unmotivated and unproductive workforce, and even potentially losing their staff to competitors.”