Top 5 Happiest Places to Work

This article was contributed by CareerBliss.com, a career community dedicated to helping people find happiness in the workplace.

New York City and Los Angeles are cities notorious for the hustle bustle of city work life—but do such large metropolitans bring job happiness as well? CareerBliss analyzed more than 200,000 independent company reviews and revealed that the well-known cities of LA, NY, Chicago, and Atlanta are not among the happiest cities to work in.

In fact, more employees have reported their happiness with companies in the following top 5 happiest US cities:

#1 San Jose, CA

Also known as the Capital of Silicon Valley, San Jose is a major leader in the technology industry. More professionals in San Jose have reported that they have found happiness in the workplace than any other city in California. San Jose is not only a hub of advanced technological research but also ranked as a top 10 safest city to live in by Population Group. CareerBliss also found that Sun Micro Systems is among the happiest companies in San Jose, CA.

#2 San Francisco, CA

Roughly one hour away from the happiest city to work in, CareerBliss ranks San Francisco as the second happiest workplace. It is also one of the most important banking and financial center in the US as the 13th among the Global Financial Center Index, assessed by the City of London Corporation in March 2011. Out of all the companies in San Francisco, more employees at Xerox Global Imaging Systems reported they are some of the happiest employees out of all the companies in San Francisco.

#3  Jacksonville, FL

As the third happiest city in the US, Jacksonville’s economy is strong across several industries of healthcare, insurance, and banking. With warm weather and prominent beach communities, employees at Worwetz e Systems power company in Jacksonville rank as one of the happiest among all the companies in the largest city of Florida.

#4 Miami, FL

In addition to being a popular beach vacation spot and featured in Will Smith’s 90s rap song, Miami is a major center of several different industries, including finance, culture, commerce, and arts and entertainment. Miami hosts a Civic Center, which is a major hub of the booming biotechnology industry.  CareerBliss reported that Miami is ranked the 4th happiest city to work in, and the happiest organization in Miami is United Way of Miami-Dade, which aims at improving education, income, and health through service programs.

#5  Washington, DC

Washington DC, or “the District,” is the capital and home to the executive, legislative, and judiciary branches of the government. As home of the nation’s most prominent landmarks and monuments, foreign embassies, and headquarter of countless lobbying groups, employees said they are particularly happy with the work-life balance and growth opportunities in Washington DC. Out of all the organization ad companies, the World Bank Group ranks among the happiest in the District.

In order to figure out the happiest cities, CareerBliss asked real employees to measure their job satisfaction based on eight factors that affect work happiness: growth opportunities, compensation, benefits, work-life balance, career advancement, senior management, job security and whether the employee would recommend the company to others. Then, their experts analyzed employees’ level of happiness by cities.
If you are looking for a job in the top 5 happiest cities to work in, check out the jobs section of CareerBliss.com. They also offer thousands of company reviews to help you find the company that will improve your workplace happiness. 

 

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You are not Supposed to be Happy at Work!

Does the title surprise you or does it resonate with your own thoughts on how you feel about the cubicle culture and put-in-long-hours work culture? I most certainly do not endorse this view but was sure surprised to hear it from a couple of attendees at a recent conference. The speaker was quite strong on her opinion that “you do not come to work to seek pleasure, work is a task to be done and if you expect happiness and pleasure at work then you are at the wrong place!” I was not so ready to counter this statement but a few others endorsed this view.

But why is it so? Why can you not be happy at work and also be productive and contribute highly to the work you do? Why do so many people suffer long by being in the wrong job before realizing that there could be a work culture around which suits them more or perhaps never realizing at all?
I do not think at all that if a workplace is welcoming and comfortable it would foster a sluggish or taken-for-granted employee’s response. See some results from national surveys below.

“Happy employees are better equipped to handle workplace relationships, stress, and change, according to a national Gallup Management Journal survey. Companies that understand this, and help employees improve their well-being, can boost their productivity.” The article further states: “The results of the GMJ Employee Engagement Index survey show a strong relationship between worker happiness and workplace engagement. Happy and engaged employees are much more likely to have a positive relationship with their boss, are better equipped to handle new challenges and changes, feel they are more valued by their employers, handle stress more effectively, and are much more satisfied with their lives.”

As a present day example, take for instance the Google culture, the company which everyone is looking up to either for their model “best place to work” or the immense money making power and worth. What would you say about this report: “Everything about the Googleplex is designed to keep workers happy, with free services from haircuts to on-site medical care. And depending on your point of view, these legendary perks are either velvet handcuffs that promote workaholism, or examples of enlightened management for a company trying to retain people in a very competitive valley.”
And what would you say about this: “Besides free food, Google employees get a host of on-site benefits, some subsidized and some free, that keep them happy at work and able to work long hours. They can do their laundry, take showers, go to the gym, play volleyball, get massages, leave the kids with the free child care, and even visit doctors.”
Stacy Sullivan, the HR director at Google says, “In our annual happiness survey, people report that they are proud they work here. We have doctors, the child-care center, and all these things, and they are all for a reason: People can get more productive. They can stay healthier.”

If a company wants to keep the employees happy, the contentment trickles down to the employees giving back by added loyalty and increased productiveness. There is no reason why one must not be happy at work. It is a part of life and leading one part miserably affects you as a whole.

How is your happiness at work affecting your performance at work and loyalty to your company today? Please comment.

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