Work Quality July 2019 – June 2020

A report and update to the Labour Force Survey measures of work quality in Northern Ireland, including 3 new indicators, were released at 9.30am today.

The measures of work quality relate to the year July 2019 to June 2020 and include: Job security; Time related under and over employment; Job satisfaction; Opportunity for career progression; Involvement in decision making; Meaningful work

 Key points

• 96% of employees in 2019/20 were in secure employment. This comprises permanent employees and those in a temporary job who did not want a permanent job.
• 84% of employees were neither underemployed nor overemployed, 9% of employees were overemployed and 7% were underemployed.
• 79% of employees reported a job satisfaction rating of satisfied or better and 86% of employees were in agreement that they performed meaningful work.
• Meaningful work was the only indicator where the most common response was the most positive category with 51% of employees strongly agreeing that their work was meaningful. 
• Responses to questions on opportunities for career progression and involvement in decision making were less positive than to job satisfaction and meaningful work.
• Approximately half of employees (53%) agreed that their job offered good opportunities for career progression although one in four (26%) disagreed or strongly disagreed that their job offered good opportunities for progression. Opportunities for career progression was the indicator with the highest percentage of negative responses.
• Similarly approximately half of employees (52%) responded that managers were good (or very good) at involving employees and their representatives in decision making while 23% said they were poor or very poor.
• Analysis of correlations between job satisfaction, meaningful work, opportunities for progression and involvement in decision making showed weak and moderate positive relationships between these aspects of work quality.

The full report and tables can be found in the Labour Force Survey section of the website.

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