Survey Says: Construction Workers Ranked the Happiest Employees

Living in New York City you without doubt run into more than a handful of construction workers every day. But next time instead of scurrying past a construction site one of these days, maybe shoot the hard-hatted folks a smile. As it turns out, the building industry ranks #1 in happiest employees.

TINYpulse surveyed over 30,000 employees across more than 500 organizations over 12 different industries, and found that construction and facility service workers are amongst the country’s happiest. If this sounds far-fetched to you, they ask that you consider the following three reasons employees aren’t happy at work:

1. Workers don’t have managers that are supportive
2. Workers don’t have the tools needed to succeed
3. Workers don’t have any opportunity for professional growth

Nearly 49 percent of surveyed employees who said they were dissatisfied at work reported having a poor relationship with their boss. Within the construction industry, employees gave high marks to their employers where obvious care was given to an employee’s well being, such as regular safety meetings and requests for feedback in the case of construction workers. Second to that, the construction industry offers numerous career and coaching opportunities in addition to apprenticeships where workers can learn additional skills to take on more challenging work. Generally speaking, the construction industry emerges as one of the most supportive.

This is of course not to discount the fact that construction is booming across the country, and especially New York City. As we know, a slew of new developments have paved the way for unprecedented building in the city. In 2014, costs reached $32.9 billion, up from $28.2 billion the year before. A finite number of construction firms are now finding themselves in high demand, and, unsurprisingly, have hiked their prices in response. Costs are estimated to have increased by at least 15 percent to 20 percent in the past two years.

So pair a sizable pay bump with a favorable, quickly-expanding working environment, and you’re certain to find a happy worker.

[Via Fast Company]