Is remote working creating happier employees?

More than half of employees (54%) revealed in a new May 2020 workforce survey from CNBC and SurveyMonkey that they are “very satisfied” with their job, compared with 47% from the last time the survey was conducted in December 2019.

This is despite the fact that the same percentile saying that it has gotten “somewhat harder” or “much harder” to do their job effectively, compared with before COVID-19 struck. The perceived hardship does not differ by gender, age or whether workers have been able to work remotely in recent weeks.

By a better than three-to-one margin (38% to 11%), more workers indicate that they are happier in their role since the pandemic started than those wishing they had a different job.

Job satisfaction is generally up, although there remains widespread anxiety among those with jobs today, said Jon Cohen, SurveyMonkey’s chief research officer.

“Fully 44% of workers report being worried that they’ll lose a job or have their hours cut in the weeks ahead.”

88% of the current remote workforce, however, are confident that their organisation’s leadership is making the right business decisions to manage through the current environment, with only 18% having considered quitting their job in the last three months.

38% indicated that post COVID-19, they would like to work from home more often than they used to, while another 19% wish to work remotely all the time.

For non-remote workers, 22% have considered quitting their job in the last three months, 75% feel safe going to work during the pandemic, and 80% are satisfied with the measures their company has put in place to keep them safe at work.