Survey on the level of satisfaction at work · en world

2021.06.10

43% of respondents are satisfied with their current workplace.The most common reasons are “working from home” among respondents working for foreign capital companies and “challenging and rewarding job” among those working for Japanese companies
 

en world Japan K.K. (headquarters: Chuo City, Tokyo, president: Vijay Deol), one of Japan’s largest recruiting firms specializing in global talent, conducted a survey of people who are currently working as permanent employees on the level of satisfaction at work, and 1,615 people responded.
 

Summary of the survey results

・ 43% of respondents are satisfied with their current workplace. The higher the yearly income, the more satisfied they are. 
・ The most common reasons why respondents were satisfied at work were “able to work from home/work remotely” for foreign capital company employees and “challenging and rewarding job” for Japanese company employees. 
・ The most common reason why respondents were dissatisfied at work is that they could not trust management. 
・ 94% of respondents think that their level of satisfaction at work affects their motivation.  The most common factor affecting motivation is “challenging and rewarding job.” The percentage of respondents who chose it was slightly higher than those who chose “salary/bonus.” 
 

Details of the survey results

1. 43% of respondents are satisfied with their current workplace. The higher the yearly income, the more satisfied they are. (Fig. 1, Fig. 2)

We asked respondents whether they were satisfied with their current workplace, and 43% (foreign capital company employees: 48%, Japanese company employees: 40%) responded that they were highly satisfied or somewhat satisfied. The percentage of employees of foreign capital companies who were satisfied was higher than for Japanese companies by 8 points.

Looking at the level of satisfaction by yearly income, the higher the yearly income, the more satisfied they were. 62% of respondents with a yearly income of 20 million yen and more responded that they were highly satisfied or somewhat satisfied.


[Fig. 1] Are you satisfied with your current workplace?

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[Fig. 2] Are you satisfied with your current workplace? (By income)

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2.The most common reasons why respondents were satisfied at work were “able to work from home/work remotely” for foreign capital company employees and “challenging and rewarding job” for Japanese company employees. (Fig. 3, Fig. 4)

We asked respondents who were highly satisfied and somewhat satisfied with their current workplace why. The most common reasons were “able to work from home/work remotely” for foreign capital company employees (foreign capital company employees:69%, Japanese company employees: 51%) and “challenging and rewarding job” for Japanese companies (foreign capital company employees:48%, Japanese company employees: 55%). Some comments are also shown.

[Fig. 3] Please respond if you are highly satisfied or somewhat satisfied at work. Please state why? (Multiple answers allowed)

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[Fig. 4] Please respond if you are highly satisfied or somewhat satisfied at work. Please state why? (Multiple answers allowed/ by yearly income)



Comments from respondents who were highly satisfied or somewhat satisfied at work

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Foreign capital company employees
・The company has great future prospects, (20 million yen and more/40s) 
・It is not an authoritarian organization, and we can openly say what we want to say. (20 million yen and more/40s) 
・I can use my skills as the president’s right hand man while belonging to a global organization. (15 million yen-less than 20 million yen/over 60s) 
・I feel that we are leading the Japan office. The products are reliable, and the company takes pride in them. (15 million yen-less than 20 million yen/40s) 
・I like the way the company works hard to achieve maximum results within reason in various systems that respect diversity. (10 million yen-less than 15 million yen/40s) 
・My satisfaction comes largely from the fact that I can work from home 100% of the time. 8 million yen-less than 10 million yen/40s) 

Japanese company employees
・Everyone in the workplace is enthusiastic, and it is inspiring. (10 million yen-less than 15 million yen/50s) 
・I feel that our company has the potential to grow. Because our company’s performance is actually improving, I can focus on my job without worry. (10 million yen-less than 15 million yen/50s) 
・Because I am a board member, I feel that I’m actually promoting the business, and it is challenging and rewarding. (10 million yen-less than 15 million yen/30s) 
・I feel safe working for a big company. (10 million yen-less than 15 million yen/50s) 
・I have a good relationship with my superior, and it is easier for me to work because he allows me do my job in my own way at my discretion. (8 million yen-less than 10 million yen/40s) 
・Because my company is small in size, every employee knows the corporate vision and philosophy well. (8 million yen-less than 10 million yen/40s) 

 

3.The most common reason why respondents were dissatisfied at work is that they could not trust management. (fig. 5, Fig. 6)

We asked respondents who were highly dissatisfied and somewhat dissatisfied with their current workplace why. The most common reason was “cannot trust management (executive team/superior)” for foreign capital company employees and for Japanese company employees (foreign capital company employees: 65%, Japanese company employees: 63%). Looking at responses by yearly income, “the job is not challenging or rewarding” is the most common reason among respondents with a yearly income of 15 million yen and more, tied with “cannot trust management (executive team/superior).” Some comments are also shown.


[Fig. 5] Please respond if you are highly dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied at work. Please state why?  (Multiple answers allowed)


 

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[Fig. 6] Please respond if you are highly dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied at work. Please state why?  (Multiple answers allowed/ by yearly income)


 

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Comments from respondents who were highly dissatisfied or somewhat dissatisfied at work

Foreign capital company employees
・Though I changed jobs to lead a bigger organization, I ended up having no subordinates.(20 million yen and more/50s) 
・The global headquarters leads everything, and local offices have no authority. (15 million yen-less than 20 million yen/40s) 
・I’m torn between our Japanese business and the overseas headquarters. (15 million yen-less than 20 million yen/40s) 
・The company has no vision for human resources development and recruitment. (8 million yen-less than 10 million yen/40s) 
・The company told me what made them attractive and the challenges they were working on when I started working, but it turned out that they were 180 degrees different.(8 million yen-less than 10 million yen/20s) 

Japanese company employees
・ I have achieved the highest ever operating profit in the business I am in charge of. However, there has been no change in the evaluation of my performance, and my salary and bonuses have been the same for more than three years, and it seems I will never get a raise. (15 million yen-less than 20 million yen/30s) 
・How we are evaluated is decided at the discretion of the department manager and whether we get promoted depends on how tight our connection is to the manager and HR. So, there is a huge difference in the likelihood of receiving a promotion among departments. (10 million yen-less than 15 million yen/40s) 
・The higher my position becomes, the greater the burden I feel. However, there are almost no raises in salary. (8 million yen-less than 10 million yen/50s) 
・I have been promoted to my position on the basis of seniority without having acquired management skills.(8 million yen-less than 10 million yen/40s) 
・I can only partly work from home even during the Covid-19 crisis. There is no flextime, and we have to be in the office anyway even in the off season, (8 million yen-less than 10 million yen/40s) 

 

4. 94% of respondents think that their level of satisfaction at work affects their motivation. The most common factor affecting motivation is “challenging and rewarding job.” The percentage of respondents who chose it was slightly higher than those who chose “salary/bonus.” (Fig. 7, Fig. 8)

We asked respondents whether their level of satisfaction at work affected their motivation, and 94% (foreign capital company employees: 94%, Japanese company employees: 95%)  responded that it affected their motivation considerably or somewhat. 

Furthermore, we asked what factor considerably affected their motivation, and the most common factor was “challenging and rewarding job” (foreign capital company employees: 71%, Japanese company employees: 74%). The percentage choosing it was slightly higher than those who chose “salary/bonus” (foreign capital company employees: 72%, Japanese company employees: 71%).
 

[Fig. 7] Does your level of satisfaction at work affect your motivation to work?


 

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[Fig. 8] What factor considerably affects your motivation to work? (Multiple answers allowed)

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[Outline of the survey]
Survey method: Online survey
Area: Japan
Number of valid answers: 1,615 people
Period: May 20-26, 2021 
Respondent attribute: Foreign capital company employees 50%, Japanese company employees 50%
Yearly income: Less than 5 million yen: 2%, 5 million yen-less than 8 million yen:31%, 8 million yen- less than 10 million yen:26%, 10 million yen- less than 15 million yen: 29%, 15 million yen- less than 20 million yen: 8%, 20 million yen and more:4%
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About en world Japan (https://www.enworld.com/)

en world Japan is a recruiting firm established in 1999 specializing in global human resources with offices in four countries in the Asia-Pacific region. We specialize in supporting Foreign Capital Companies and global Japanese companies in recruiting human resources for middle to high level positions. We help companies with recruitment and job seekers with career changes from every angle by staffing full-time workers, contract professionals, and executive human resources and providing recruitment process outsourcing solutions.
 

Contact information for inquiries about this news release
en world Japan K.K.  PR representative
Email : enworld-pr@enworld.com
Tokyo Square Garden 12F, Kyobashi 3-1-1, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0031

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