Chile. For the third consecutive year, Sodexo launched its Quality of Working Life Index, a study carried out in Chile on 630 dependent workers, which provides an x-ray of the level of job satisfaction of Chileans and allows to observe some key factors when developing policies that increase the well-being of workers.
"This study is based mainly on our conviction that to create sustainable business value over time, both organizations and society must place people at the center of their thinking, this being the starting point for the development of business strategies and labor policies," says Jorge Martel, Director of Marketing and Innovation at Sodexo Benefits and Incentives Services.
Based on the above, the executive adds that "the Quality of Working Life Index is a general study, which allows us to know how Chilean workers are perceiving the quality of working life in relation to their current work."
This index is constructed from a series of variables that are grouped into six dimensions that constitute the quality of working life. These were identified by Sodexo through its worldwide experience of more than 50 years serving thousands of customers and consumers, and are summarized in: Health and Wellness; Personal Development; Interpersonal Relationships; Physical Environment, Recognition, and Ease and Efficiency.
Main results:
• The job satisfaction of Chileans remains stable in relation to the previous year, decreasing only by 2 basis points (from 67% to 65%).
• The percentage of job satisfaction in women is significantly lower (22.4%) than that of men, being reflected specifically in: the way in which work and effort are recognized, the benefits they receive and the bonuses additional to their salary. They also feel they have fewer opportunities for labour mobility (58% women versus 73% men) and promotion (53% women versus 72% men). Although 91% of the respondents are highly committed to their work, unlike men, they look for jobs with a more flexible working day and the support of their team, in order to better reconcile their personal and professional lives.
• The level of worker satisfaction in regions is 24% higher than in Santiago. In terms of labour mobility opportunities, satisfaction in regions is 29% higher than in Santiago. In addition to the above, in regions more and better instances are perceived to share and collaborators feel more recognized in their work. Also, short travel distances have a positive impact on job satisfaction.
• People over 50 are, on average, 16% more satisfied with the work than the Millennial generation (under 34 years old), although compared to 2015 they have 20% less job satisfaction. Of the Millennials, 18% said they feel dissatisfied with the way they recognize their work, 1 in 4 feel dissatisfied with the congratulations and thanks from their boss and only 56% are satisfied with the bonuses and benefits in addition to their salary. They are a generation that seeks jobs with shorter hours, a good work environment, support among colleagues and work teams, and more accessible bosses with less hierarchical relationships of mutual cooperation.
• The companies with the lowest job satisfaction are medium-sized, followed by small and large ones. As for the Recognition factor (how it is recognized, bonuses or benefits in addition to salary and freedom to perform the work) there are no gaps in companies of different sizes. However, it is important to note that in small companies a percentage of satisfaction of more than 90% is reflected in aspects such as respect and good relationships within work teams.
• The study also reveals that there is a direct relationship between the number of benefits remembered by workers versus the percentage of job satisfaction, where people who remember 20 or more benefits have a job satisfaction of 88%, higher by 29.4% than those who remember 1 to 9 benefits (68%).
In addition to this study, Sodexo made available to people and companies a website where it is possible to make the index for free, entering www.indicesodexo.cl
