Millions of UK workers who feel undervalued by their bosses are on the brink of quitting their jobs, according to a major annual study of employee happiness in the workplace.
Around 6.5 million Brits who feel underappreciated by their bosses are actively looking to leave – up a million on 2023.
And the picture does not look good for the retail sector, with in excess of 8 in 10 (85%) workers revealing they feel undervalued in the workplace.
The third annual Love2shop Employee Value Report learned 82% of all UK workers who claim to feel undervalued were already preparing to leave their current employers.
Love2shop’s Employee Value Report asked workers all over the UK how feeling valued affects their work and whether rewards and recognition have a positive impact on them.
And as the cost of living remains a real concern for workers, with 71% stating that if they received a gift card or bonus from work they would spend it on the weekly shop, clothes or back-to-school essentials.
Lunchtime yoga, dogs in the office, pizza parties and work nights out are ineffective and viewed as being reflexive gimmicks to solve issues around employee appreciation and value, according to the findings.
Instead, beyond a salary rise, workers actually want more flexible working (20%) and days off (20%), and gift cards or shopping vouchers (18%) to spend on essentials - unchanged from the last three years.
Love2shop's Frank Creighton told us “Retail workers were just behind employees in finance in terms of the most unhappy workers in the UK. Not being acknowledged for their contribution to the business is the top reason for feeling under-appreciated, followed by feeling underpaid (33%).
He added: "But thinking about this solely as a wage issue would be mistaken. We found 29% of people feel undervalued because ‘loyalty is a one-way street’ – meaning they feel employers demand their loyalty but will axe their jobs without even a second thought. A quarter of people also cited the lack of a simple ‘thank you’ as a significant problem."
As well as the increase in unhappy workers generally this year, the survey also discovered the looming employment crisis in education and health refuses to go away despite recent pay settlements.
It revealed 74% of education workers and 71% of healthcare professionals are considering leaving their professions due to feeling undervalued. It is also reflected in the private sector where 89% of finance workers and 85% of retail workers are also seeking ways to leave.
This year the survey found that Northern Ireland has the happiest workers in the UK, with Belfast the happiest city.
While unhappiness grew in last year’s worst performing city – Liverpool – it was eclipsed by Plymouth, where over a third – 36% of workers – said they felt underappreciated at work.
Frank Creighton went on to say: “We have been doing the report for a number of years now and the data clearly shows loyalty, productivity and happiness increase with employers who put the right reward strategies in place. Those businesses grow and thrive more readily than businesses that do not show employees they are valued.
“Employee expectations have changed. If businesses do not change with them, they may very soon find themselves falling behind."
Love2shop’s expert team has helped more than 150,000 businesses create effective reward and engagement strategies for more than 50 years.