Gov’t employees relatively happy and fulfilled at work —JobStreet study

Government employees are relatively happy and fulfilled with their jobs, running contrary to popular belief that state workers are unhappy, a new study by JobStreet Philippines has found.

The study also debunks the unfounded stigma that it isn’t beneficial to work for the government.

“The biggest drivers of government employees’ happiness were the reputation of the government agency, relationship with immediate boss, and the mission, vision, and values of their agency,” JobStreet said.

In the study, 1,008 government employees—257 government employees and 751 from JobStreet’s database—were asked to rate their happiness in various criteria related to work environment, such as management/leadership team, job security, and work-life balance.

They would rate their happiness in each category on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 being the highest. Government employees recorded an average of 4.85 points on this scale.

In 2017, the government emerged as one of the top 3 happiest sectors, alongside hotel/hospitality and food and beverage/restaurant workers.

“Meanwhile, pain points included lack of travel opportunities, lack of performance bonuses, and low salary,” JobStreet said in a statement.

“Job happiness is an important element of work performance and employee health—happier employees are 12 percent more productive, physically and mentally healthier, and stay with their jobs longer,” it said.

JobStreet noted that the purpose of the study was to inform its government partners what makes working for the state attractive to private sector employees.

The study also tries to determine the factors that contribute to job happiness in  government “and help partners form strategies to maintain current employees and secure new ones.”

“Through the data gathered from this study, we aim to encourage more Filipinos to look past the stigma and prejudice and be more open to working for the government. After all, it does have its wonderful perks,” said Christine Sevilla, JobStreet Philippines’ senior manager for Government.

JobStreet also found that 80 percent of candidates want to work for government, especially due to the benefits of job security, retirement plans, and career growth, yet only 37 percent are actually eligible to get a job in government.

The research comes on the heels the Civil Service Examinations last March.

“It’s up to JobStreet’s government partners to more efficiently and adequately disseminate information about eligibility for civil service, including the different levels of eligibility associated with the CSE-PPT exam,” according to JobStreet.

Another exam is coming up in August, and candidates should be well-informed about what to expect, and how to achieve their desired positions.

“With these results, we recommend that government human resources divisions conduct their own happiness surveys from time to time to help identify areas of improvement in job satisfaction of their employees, as well as bolster efforts to improve areas where happiness is already at a high level.” JobStreet Philippines general manager Philip Gioca said. —VDS, GMA News