研究:人们到35岁开始厌倦工作
Older employees tend to be more miserable in their jobs, with the rapid descent into workplace drudgery kicking in at the age of 35, a new study claims. While millennials may be full of youthful exuberance for their new roles, the reality of working life has set in for Generation X and Baby Boomers. Experts looked at a range of factors affecting job satisfaction and found that older workers reported higher levels of stress and dissatisfaction. This resulted in almost one fifth reporting that they are unhappy at work, according to the report - meaning burnout may hit sooner than you think. 'There comes a time when either you haven't achieved success, work has burned you out, or lived experience tells you family is more important,' said Cary Cooper, a workplace researcher at Manchester Business School told Bloomberg. 'You ask yourself: 'What am I doing this for?' Researchers from Happiness Works, on behalf of recruitment firm Robert Half, found 17 percent of people over the age of 55 were unfulfilled in their roles. Generation X didn't fare much better, with 16 percent of 35 to 54-year-olds admitting they were unhappy. Half that number of Millennials said the same, with less than one in ten (eight percent) of workers aged 18 to 34 saying they were dissatisfied in their jobs. The full report, which examined the influences behind employee happiness, discovered workplace stress was the largest factor affecting older workers. This was coupled with creative dissatisfaction, struggling to find a happy work-life balance and feeling under-appreciated. There’s a way to combat the pressure, Cooper said. Making work friends could improve the situation, as well as refocusing on a personal project at work and make that your passion. The London-based human resources firm also suggested a number of ways the issue could be addressed by employers. Phil Sheridan, senior managing director at Robert Half UK, said: 'Employees that are aged over 35 have valuable experience that the whole organization can learn and benefit from. 'It's important that their happiness is not neglected, so businesses need to take the time to invest in their staff at all levels. 'Simple things like conducting regular performance reviews, offering new opportunities for learning and setting ambitious career goals are all steps that can ensure more tenured workers feel appreciated and that career goals don't become static.' For those aged over 35 a little appreciation could go a long way, the report suggests. Overall, 60 percent of those aged 18 to 35 said they feel appreciated and just 15 percent feel undervalued. In comparison, a quarter (25 percent) of 35 to 54-year-olds feel underappreciated, with this figure rising to 29 percent for those aged over 55. One third (34 percent) of those aged over 35 said they found their job stressful. This figure is significantly lower for 18 to 35-year-olds, where only a quarter (25 percent) said they suffered from stress. Complaints about work-life balance also come into play the older you are. In total, 12 percent of those aged 35 to 54 and 17 percent of those aged over 55 struggle to juggle work with other aspects of their life. In comparison, just one in ten millennials said they feel the same. Overall, 68 percent of 18 to 34 year olds felt more free to be themselves at work, with more than half (55 percent) saying that they were able to be creative at work. This compared to 38 percent of Generation X and 31 percent of over 55s. As employees get older, they are also far less likely to view their colleagues as friends. In fact, 14 percent of those aged 35 to 54 and 16 percent of those aged over 55 said they don't have good friends at work, clearly keeping their work and social lives separate. By comparison, three in five (62 percent) of 18 to 34 year olds said that they had good friends at work. |