Great Place To Work®: Tech Recognised as the Top-Ranking Sector for Employee Wellbeing

Employee wellbeing is a holistic concept encompassing individuals’ subjective experiences of their working lives. It is an outcome and personal assessment of how people feel about their workplace; for employers, it is all about creating the conditions for them to thrive. 

Leveraging their research-based Trust Index Survey, Great Place To Work® has conducted a UK population study, surveying 2,200 employees across 11 sectors to create The State of Employee Wellbeing in the Workplace Report 2024.

Following this, they used their Extended Wellbeing Index to measure holistic workplace wellbeing across areas such as Interpersonal Relationships, Job Design & Fulfilment, Work-Life Balance, Psychological Safety, Mental, Physical & Financial Health, and General Evaluation of Wellbeing. 

Each sector received an Extended Wellbeing Index score and was ranked from highest to lowest based on their overall wellbeing experiences.

Tech is leading the way as the top-ranking sector for wellbeing, according to employees

The results of the Index revealed that employee wellbeing within the tech industry can be attributed to strong interpersonal relationships, effective job design, work-life balance, and robust psychological safety measures.

The tech industry scored the highest of all sectors analysed when it came to Job Design & Fulfilment, which considers important individual role-related variables rather than focusing on the wider workplace culture. This includes the extent to which employees experience fulfilment in their jobs, how fairly they feel compensated for it, and whether they can comfortably cope with job demands.

This sector also scored highly for Psychological Safety, placing third behind Charity & Not-for-profit, and Professional Services. This relates to how employees assess the quality of the psychosocial work environment, i.e. the intangible things you can’t see. This includes the extent to which people feel free to speak up, challenge norms and decisions, show vulnerability and express their authentic selves. 

What do employees want most to encourage wellbeing within the workplace?

Perks and wellness programs often fall short of addressing the true needs of employees for enhancing their wellbeing. By analysing a sample of 1,000 comments from UK employees, Great Place To Work® discovered that employees now look for the following to support their personal wellbeing:

1. Work-Life Balance & Hybrid Working
2. Workload, Resourcing & Processes
3. People Management
4. Pay & Financial Security
5. Benefits & Wellbeing Programs 

Sara Silvonen, Senior Consultant & Wellbeing Lead, Great Place To Work UK, said:

“At the heart of every organisation is its people and looking after their wellbeing should be much more integrative than a package of impressive perks on a careers website. Wellbeing, engagement, and trust between employees go hand in hand as critical ingredients of a successful workplace culture. By creating the conditions for thriving through job design, the work environment and high-trust relationships, organisations can set employees up for success in terms of productivity and long-term commitment to their mission and purpose.”

To see the full report, please visit: https://uk.greatplacetowork.co.uk/workplace-wellbeing-report

Great Place To Work® is the global authority on workplace culture, helping organisations to create exceptional, high-performing workplaces where employees feel trusted and valued. For more information, visit www.greatplacetowork.co.uk.