PwC's Work-life 3.0: Understanding how we'll work next is a fascinating look at how workforce dynamics are changing.
The study covers a lot of ground, but what really jumped out at us was their their findings on worker happiness.
As the study infographic shows, only 27% of employees at large companies are happy at work.
This is substantially lower than the 43% of small business employees who report being happy at work.
And, of course, independent workers and the self-employed are the happiest with work.
The 2016 MBO Partners State of Independence study reports that 81% of independent workers report being happier since they became independent and 60% report being healthier.
Other studies also consistently report on average the self-employed are more engaged, more satisfied and happier with work than those in traditional jobs.
Over the past two years we've been digging deeper into why independent workers are consistently more happy at work than traditional employees.
The answers are not surprising. Independent workers are happier because they have more work autonomy, control and flexibility than employees do.
Interestingly enough, these are pretty much the same reasons PWC cite as to why employees working in small businesses are happier than those working for large corporations.
Key quote from PWC's report:
Small companies often appear to have less bureaucracy, tighter cultures and more leniency around work policies ...
"Happiness" is not easy to measure and as a data driven firm we often struggle with the squishiness of this topic. But it's clear more people are considering which path will make them happier in their career decisions.
It's also clear more people are willing to trade off security and a predictable income in exchange for the increased happiness working independent brings. So we will continue our work in this area.
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