Employee happiness is climbing back from all-time lows, survey suggests
A new survey shows employee morale is on the rise after hitting all-time lows. BambooHR, an HR software platform, used employee net promoter scores (eNPS)—a numeric rating of how likely employees are to recommend the organization as a place to work—and turnover data to assess employee happiness. According to the company’s recent global Employee Happiness Index with data from 51,000 employees,…
A recent survey reveals a rise in employee happiness after reaching historical lows. BambooHR, an HR software company, utilized employee net promoter scores (eNPS) and turnover data to measure happiness. The findings from their global Employee Happiness Index, which surveyed 51,000 employees, show eNPS increasing from 40 in the first half of the year compared to 38 in the previous half-year—a 4.4% year-over-year increase.
This positive trend is the strongest since 2023 and even surpasses the usual increase seen in the latter half of the year.
Companies with higher eNPS lose significantly fewer employees, experiencing 46% fewer exits per 100 employees annually than those with lower eNPS. For instance, happy companies have an early turnover rate of 2.1%, while those with a perfect eNPS see a rate of 2.7%. However, this correlation does not indicate causation.
New hires are initially the happiest, but employees between two to three years with the same company tend to be the least content. Surprisingly, employees with the longest tenure are the happiest. Interestingly, age groups also show considerable differences in happiness levels. For example, 26- to 30-year-olds have the lowest eNPS of 31, while 51- to 60-year-olds report an eNPS of 48, a 17-point difference.
An earlier survey by the Conference Board indicated stark differences in job satisfaction: workers 55 and older reported 72% satisfaction, while those aged 18 to 24 had only 57% satisfaction. Recent reports suggest that young people are particularly affected by AI's impact on their careers. A gender gap exists in employee happiness, with men reporting 6.8 points more satisfaction than women, a narrowing gap from the previous three-year average of eight points.
The survey also highlights industry-specific variations. The tech industry, once at the top, has slipped below average due to mass layoffs and AI-driven changes. Meta, for instance, laid off 10% of its workforce, with CTO Andrew Bosworth admitting that morale was at its lowest point. Posts on Blind, an anonymous workplace forum, indicate an 83% increase in negative sentiment about AI at Meta since late 2025, a significant 300% jump from 2024. Similar mass layoffs have occurred at Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle.
Despite the overall improvement in employee happiness, the benefits are not equally distributed across demographics and industries. Younger employees and those in the tech sector continue to face challenges, indicating that the rebound in happiness is not uniform.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
