Government employees are relatively happy and fulfilled at their jobs, a new study by JobStreet Philippines has found. This runs contrary to the popular belief that government workers are unhappy, as well as the unfounded stigma that the government isn’t beneficial to work for.
In a 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 environments, such as management/leadership team, job security, and work-life balance. They would rate their happiness in each category on a scale of 1-7, with 7 being the highest. Government employees recorded an average of 4.85 points on this scale. Indeed, in 2017, government emerged as one of the top three happiest sectors, alongside hotel/hospitality and food and beverage/restaurant workers.
The biggest drivers of government employees’ happiness were the reputation of the government agency, relationship with the immediate boss, and the mission, vision, and values of their agency. Meanwhile, pain points included lack of travel opportunities, lack of performance bonuses, and low salary.
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.
The purpose of the study was to inform JobStreet’s government partners what makes jobs in the government attractive to those who work in the private sector, determine the factors that contribute to job happiness in the 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% of candidates want to work in the government, especially due to the benefits of job security, retirement plans, and career growth, yet only 37% are actually eligible for government work.
This research comes hot on the heels of the recent Civil Service Examinations, held 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. 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 for the job satisfaction of their employees, as well as bolster efforts to improve areas where happiness is already at a high level,” said JobStreet Philippines General Manager Philip Gioca.
