Danes happy with their work

Hi ho, hi ho, its gladly off to work we go

Three out of four Danes are happy with their current job. According to a YouGov poll for MetroXpress newspaper, 75 percent of those surveyed said they were ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with their jobs. 

The happy proletariat cited good colleagues and feeling like they had a voice at work as the reason for their workplace nirvana.

“The classic wage earner, who worked to raise money to live the life of leisure, is in decline,” Professor Henning Jørgensen from Aalborg University told Metroxpress. “A job is now a social institution in which we develop a community.”

Happier than Uncle Sam
Compared to people in 33 European countries, Danes are exceptionally happy at work, according to a 2012 study by Eurofound. Danish workers were in the top four for all the measured parameters and number one for 'job contentment’.

Fewer than half of American workers were satisfied with their jobs in 2013, according to a survey done in that country.

READ MORE: Danes leaving home to find jobs

In almost every individual measure – from wages and retirement plans to vacation policies and commuting – workers were less content with their jobs than they were in 1987. Back then, over 61 percent of workers said they were satisfied.

Employers beware
Henning Jørgensen from the trade union FOA warned employers not to get too cocky.

“During the crisis, it has been an employer's market, and people have been willing to toe the line, especially in the public sector,” he said. “But young workers reject those boundaries and want the chance to show what they can do.”