North Dakota: The Land of Happiness in the Workplace!

A recent survey ranks North Dakota high in workplace happiness. Moneypenny polled Americans on their jobs in 2021. They repeat the survey two years later to assess change. The survey found more employees in their "dream job" than in 2021.

The data also showed the unhappiest states, industries, and industries people want to work in. Moneypenny surveyed Americans in 2021 to see if they were happy at work and found that only 7% were in their dream career. This poll was conducted during the COVID-19 epidemic when many people were worried about their jobs and adapting to new conditions like working from home.

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Now that the WHO has declared COVID-19 no longer a "global health emergency" and many people have returned to work after a year, Moneypenny has rerun the survey to see how responses have changed in the last two years and how many of us are in our dream job.

9% of Americans have their dream job.

The new survey revealed 9% of Americans in their dream job, up from 7% in 2021.

63% of Americans are happy in their jobs, up from 54% in 2021. Only 1 in 10 are in their dream jobs. Thus, job dissatisfaction has decreased.

Science and pharmaceuticals are now America's unhappiest industry.

The unhappiest occupations were science and pharmaceuticals, where 42% of workers were unhappy. Since 2021, energy and utilities were unhappiest.

Charity and volunteering (39%) and leisure, sport, and tourism (33%) were close behind.

IT remains the happiest industry. That surprises me considering most tech people are not that nice to talk to, especially when it comes to IT issues!

Information technology was the happiest U.S. industry in Moneypenny's 2021 study, with 73% of workers satisfied.

86% of workers were content in their jobs, which hasn't changed.

Public services and administration (61%), banking, and finance (62%).

Healthcare is the most sought-after career.

Healthcare is the most wanted career for 11% of Americans. In the 2021 survey, creative arts and design was the most desired industry. However, 8% of Americans desire to work in creative arts, following healthcare. I found it funny radio was not even mentioned. 23% stated they didn't switch careers because they didn't have the experience or training, while 23% claimed they were too comfortable in their current work.

What are the happiest states to work in?

Wyoming was revealed the be the happiest state to work in, with 100% of the state's respondents saying they were happy in their role.

Wyoming - 100%
North Dakota - 80%
Washington D.C. - 86%
New York - 77%
Idaho - 75%
West Virginia - 73%
Iowa - 74%
Texas - 71%
Michigan - 70%
New Jersey - 70%

How did the pandemic make people feel about work?

The pandemic affected work attitudes.

67% of Americans stated the pandemic affected how they felt at work.

The pandemic gave 25% of Americans new job options, and 41% realized that life was too short to be unhappy at work. To find out more about the research, including the top states that are happy and unhappy in their roles, you can visit: https://www.moneypenny.com/us/resources/blog/changing-lanes-are-americans-in-their-dream-career-2/