Figure 1: Sample share that reported wanting to resign from their job by age, gender, household size and employment sector;
Credit: STATEC Research / Authors' calculations using the Luxembourg Global Entrepreneurship Monitor 2023
On Monday 6 May 2024, Luxembourg's statistical institute, STATEC, published the results of a new analysis linked to job satisfaction.
The analysis carried out by STATEC Research found that 12% of employees in Luxembourg were planning to quit their jobs. This figure varied "substantially" across various groups, with younger people (aged 25-34) and women more likely to consider quitting.
STATEC described job satisfaction as the best predictor of intentions to quit. Nearly one in three dissatisfied employees said they were planning to quit (30%), compared to just 8% of satisfied workers.
The analysis delved into additional benefits of workplace well-being and how to improve it. STATEC noted that greater well-being can lead to career success and higher productivity in the workplace. Much of the research was carried out on individuals, although another recent study conducted by STATEC Research showed that industries with higher job quality and job satisfaction display higher levels of labour productivity. Workplace well-being is also important for recruitment, STATEC added. Based on an experiment among 25 million jobseekers, candidates were less likely to apply to companies that were otherwise the same but had low employee satisfaction.
To improve job satisfaction, STATEC suggested that management focus on job quality, which encompasses six different dimensions: income and benefits, working time, work-life balance, discrimination, health and safety, employee representation or feedback, skills development and training, and stress. More positive workplace relationships and sense of meaning are also associated with greater job satisfaction, the statistical institute reported.
Taken as a whole, the available evidence suggests that employees care about many aspects of their jobs (beyond their salaries) and that there are many routes to improve job satisfaction. Improving job satisfaction, in return, can reduce employee turnover, increase productivity, and increase the number of job candidates, noted STATEC.
The data for the new research is taken from the recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) in Luxembourg, a nationally representative survey of the resident population conducted by STATEC Research.
The full publication is available as a PDF (mostly in English) at https://statistiques.public.lu/dam-assets/catalogue-publications/economie-statistiques/2024/working-paper-02-24.pdf.
