Two fifths of people think their jobs will be obsolete within a decade

A new survey from job site Jobbio claims that more than two fifths of British workers think their job will be obsolete in as little as ten years, compared to over a third of those in the US. Respondents believe roles such as travel agents, telemarketers and factory workers will all disappear. in the longer term, a little over two-fifths of 2,000 British respondents (41 percent) think that they won’t be able to retire until the ages of 70-74 in 2050 with less than a fifth (14 percent) thinking they will get to retire under the age of 65. The survey focuses on the issue of happiness and what makes people happy at work. It found that there are some marked differences between the two countries although people are universally keen to address the issue of work life balance.

Yet when it comes to finding their ideal employment conditions, British workers retain a long list of requirements. Over half of Brits look for a more competitive salary (56 percent), flexible working hours (47 percent) and greater rewards (53 percent) from their employer. In addition to this, the shorter the commute the better, as the dreaded daily commute also seems to have a significant influence on happiness at work. Over a third of Brits (36 percent) spend 45 minutes or more commuting and sadly for more than one in ten Brits, they spend at least an hour travelling to work.

British workers also seem to have a lot of objections with the working day itself. Day-to-day tasks such as meetings, were found to be the biggest office bugbear, with over a quarter (28 percent) confessing that meetings are the biggest waste of their time at work. Adding to this, nearly a fifth would prefer not to even chat with colleagues, as 17 percent found the interaction a waste of their time.

However, according to British, employees also need more flexibility and time outside of the office to reach ultimate workplace satisfaction. According to employees, the biggest improvements that the UK companies can implement, as their daily working practices, are flexible working hours (40 percent), utilising technology to make working more efficient (30 percent), shorter days (26 percent) and remote working (24 percent).

This bears comparison to the US where nearly a third (32 percent) of American adults say they are always happy with their work, even though the research claims that the US workforce work longer hours and have less holiday than UK employees. So what can improve the levels of happiness? For both sides of the pond, employees are seeking a better work life balance, with 61 percent of Brits noting this a key component for a good employer, and over half (59 percent) in the US agree.