Feel like you’re stuck in a rut at work? You’re not the only one

If small business owners are tired, it seems their employees are feeling it, too. ADP Canada released its latest iteration of their Happiness@Work index for April 2023, finding that workers in Canada got a little more unhappy last month ― dropping from seven on a scale from one to 10 to 6.8 overall, according to ADP’s scoring system.

What’s also interesting, however, is the stark differences in regional and generational breakdowns. In terms of age, it might be no surprise to know that boomers are the most pleased with their work, with Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X workers lagging behind.

But there is also interesting regional differences, suggesting that the west coast really might be the best coast, at least as far as work is concerned.

Workers in BC and Alberta were a few points ahead of workers in the rest of the country: while every other province registered slight declines in happiness, those scores went up in Alberta and stayed steady in BC. The report didn’t really offer much insight or theories on why this is the case but did note that the sharpest drop in happiness was among workers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, whose happiness scores slid by nearly 10 per cent over the past month.

(One might also wonder whether Canada is in a happiness recession of sorts, though. Earlier this year, Canada got its lowest-ever score in the United Nations World Happiness Report, ranking us only 13th in the world.)

ADP suggests that employers might be able to improve overall happiness with more flexible, responsive approaches to their employees.

“Although the National Work Happiness Score for April only falls slightly below the benchmark and the score for March, it’s important for employers to acknowledge external factors can impact Canadians’ happiness at work,” said Holger Kormann, president of ADP Canada.

“Given that workers were less satisfied with compensation and benefits, amidst a backdrop of inflation, companies may need to re-evaluate compensation structure on a more regular basis, instead of reviewing or adjusting annually.”

Content written by Kieran Delamont for Worklife, a partnership between Ahria Consulting and London Inc. To view this content in newsletter form, click here.