BRITISH WORKERS MOST DISSATISFIED GLOBALLY

Salary is the top priority for workers in the UK, with 62% of people saying it’s the most crucial factor in a job. But despite the high priority given to salary, almost half (45%) of British workers are unsatisfied due to increased responsibility without the pay to match.
According to European data, British workers are least likely to be happy with anything other than a pay increase.
However, if workers can’t get a pay increase, they want alternative benefits such as a one-off payment to help with the cost of living (36%), additional days of annual leave/paid time off (34%), and grocery/shopping vouchers (32%).
To make matters worse, workers in the UK work on average 7.35 days for free each week, with 71% of people working at least some hours for free each week. Addressing these issues is crucial to avoid demotivating workers and increasing employee turnover when finding talent is tough.
Workers have high expectations for pay rises this year despite the cost-of-living crisis and potential concerns over a 2008-style crash. 51% say they expect a pay rise in the next 12 months. However, only 35% of workers have had a pay rise of over 4% in the last year, and 31% have yet to receive a pay rise. Meanwhile, 47% expect a pay rise of at least 4%.
These data points paint a bleak picture of the reality for many workers in the UK. Despite salary being the top priority, many workers are unsatisfied with their work and feel undervalued for their increased responsibility without appropriate pay increases.
On top of this the persistent gender pay gap only exacerbates the problem, with women feeling unfairly compensated for their work compared to men. Men received bigger pay raises than women, despite being more inclined to say they’re underpaid. Data reveals that 29% of men received no increase or decrease in pay over the last 12 months, compared to 32% of women. Furthermore, 21% of men expect a promotion in the next 12 months, while only 17% of women expect the same.
Enjoyment of their work ranks at 44%, job security at 46%, and flexibility of hours at 38%.