UK workers declare job location to be more important than wage
Job location is on average the most important factor for why UK workers stay in their current job role (57%), ahead of both wage (52%) and job security (33%). These are the findings from an online survey conducted by OnePoll on behalf of ClickSoftware (NasdaqGS: CKSW), as part of a global competition to find the world’s most extreme work locations.
The UK survey, which looks at factors affecting job performance, found one in five people (20%) believe their productivity at work has been negatively affected by the location of their job. This increases further in the capital with over a quarter of Londoners (26%) feeling that their productivity would suffer by working in a horrible location. Within the UK, employees in the South-East value the location of their job more than anyone else in the country.
Young professionals are by far the most affected by the location of their work, with a quarter (24%) of 25 to 34 year olds admitting that their productivity is likely to be affected by a horrible location. More notably, over two-thirds of people (67%) revealed they have either considered or actually left a job, at least in part, for a change in scenery.
Regardless of the job involved, the most popular place to work is at home, with 60% of people identifying this location to be very comfortable. UK workers are certainly not fans of stepping outside of their comfort zones to work in more extreme locations, with over half of people (51%) admitting they would not feel comfortable at all working in a job that involves heights. Working underground, such as in a mine, was the least popular option, with nearly three quarters (72%) of people saying that they would not feel comfortable doing so.
Those looking for an interesting view as they toil away should look for a job on the road, with 46% of people voting this the location that would provide the most interesting views each day, just ahead of working up high in the open (45%) or out at sea (44%). However, the majority of Londoners are happy with the view from the office as they identified this to be the most inspirational place for them, and instead focus on achieving promotion, which is nearly five times as important to the capital’s workers (23%) than people in East Anglia (5%).
This news comes as ClickSoftware announces the winners to a competition it launched to find the people that work in the most extreme locations across the world. The Most Extreme Destinations competition invited people to send in pictures of where they work on a daily basis to share their views. Entries included working down a mine, up a telephone pole and working out at sea to name a few.
One winner was selected across each of the EMEA, Americas and APAC regions, with Gary Mullen of Ricoh crowned as the winner of the EMEA region for his picture of colleagues transferring from the ship to the oil rig out at sea. He will receive £1,000 for a chosen charity of his choice, Headway Highland.
Dr. Moshe BenBassat, founder and CEO of ClickSoftware, said: “We wanted to highlight and champion the people who work in some of the most extreme and sometimes dangerous places across the world. What may seem like an extreme location to most, such as hanging off telephone poles or being surrounded by darkness down a mine, is simply their everyday office. The caliber of photos we received show the lengths that these workers go to every day to safeguard everyday convenience for the rest of us by ensuring the gas flows and the lights are on.”
Gary Mullen, on-site service technician at Ricoh said, “We saw the contest running and it fit well with the extreme conditions we deal with on a daily basis. It is fantastic news that Headway Highland will now receive the donation because our colleague, who sadly suffered a stroke last year, has benefited massively from the support they offer. The people who work there will put the money to good use and help others in need.”
