Job satisfaction among British workers has fallen to the lowest level recorded by the British Social Attitudes survey, with new research also identifying a substantial decline in employees’ willingness to put additional effort into helping their organisations succeed.
Analysis by the Resolution Foundation found that 74% of workers reported being satisfied with their main job, compared with 81% in 2015. The proportion willing to work harder than required to help their employer succeed fell from 69% to 55% over the same decade.
The findings come from the latest British Social Attitudes research, published through the National Centre for Social Research, and provide a longer-term view of how employees’ expectations and experiences have changed.
One notable change concerns the content of work itself. The proportion of employees who said their job was interesting declined from 74% to 63%, while those reporting opportunities for advancement fell from 35% to 26%. These measures point to weaker perceptions of career development and the quality of everyday working life.
Workers’ priorities have also shifted. The proportion saying that high income was important when choosing a job increased from 67% to 78%. However, only 23% believed that their current job provided a high income, creating a considerable gap between what employees value and what they experience.
Flexibility shows a similar pattern. Some 61% now regard the ability to decide their own working hours as important, up from 46% a decade earlier. Yet only 31% say they have that degree of control in their present role.
These differences are relevant to employers assessing recruitment and retention policies. Pay, advancement and working arrangements all influence how attractive a position may appear to applicants and existing staff. The survey suggests that employers cannot assume traditional benefits or established working patterns continue to match the priorities of their workforce.
The research also identifies changing preferences around full-time employment. The proportion of working-age adults who would ideally prefer to work full time declined from 57% in 2015 to 47% in 2025. That shift was concentrated among men, for whom the proportion fell from 77% to 62%.
Despite those changing preferences, the share of people actually working full time increased slightly over the decade. The contrast suggests that some employees’ desired working arrangements differ from the jobs they currently hold, although the survey does not establish that changes to working hours would resolve wider dissatisfaction.
Attitudes towards employment remain more positive than the decline in job satisfaction alone might imply. Only 4% of working-age adults said they would ideally prefer not to work at all. Among people under 30 who were not full-time students, the corresponding proportion was 2%.
The Resolution Foundation also found that 34% of workers said they were likely to look for another job during the following 12 months, a proportion that had changed relatively little since 2015. This suggests that weaker satisfaction is not automatically translating into stronger stated intentions to change employer.
Researchers are considering how these attitudes interact with the UK’s persistent labour market challenges, including weak productivity growth, reduced job mobility and economic inactivity. The findings identify associations and changing expectations, rather than demonstrating that lower satisfaction is the direct cause of any particular economic outcome.
The decade-long decline in perceived advancement, interesting work and discretionary effort presents a substantial workforce management challenge. Employers reviewing their people strategies now have evidence of the gap between employees’ expectations around pay, flexibility and career development and the conditions many say they encounter at work.
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