Danes top European job happiness index

Over 80 percent of Danes are satisfied with their employment status

When it comes to being satisfied with their jobs, no-one in Europe ranks higher than the Danes. In fact, from a global perspective, only Mexicans are more happy about their current state of employment.

A new report from the Dutch recruitment giant Randstad ranks Denmark second in the world overall – over 80 percent were satisfied with their jobs – followed by India, Norway and Turkey.

Switzerland, the US, Poland, Brazil and Luxembourg completed the top 10.

“The Danes can be really proud of their position. It shows we have a really good and well-functioning labour market,” said Nima Astanehdost, the CEO of Randstad Denmark.

“It’s becoming more and more an employees’ market, and that means that companies have to stretch further to attract and retain employees.”

READ MORE: French president lauds Danish job market system

Competencies critical
The report also indicated that for the third quarter of this year, Denmark was among the countries in which people had the highest desire to change jobs – compared to the previous quarter.

Astanehdost went on to contend that companies will in future focus more on employer branding, as was the case before the financial crisis struck in 2007-08. But while it was more about fitness and lunch schemes back then, it will be more about flexibility and education now, he maintained.

“An overwhelming 90 percent of global respondents indicate they believe in regularly refreshing their skills and competencies to enhance their employability. This conviction is highest in China (98 percent) and lowest in the Netherlands (67 percent). On average, 74 percent of the global respondents agree that they are realising their full potential in their current jobs,” Randstad found.