North American employees with higher levels of education show greater job engagement combined with higher stress levels and more problems managing work-life balance, according to the GfK Global Employee Engagement Survey released this morning.
The survey revealed that employees with a PhD were the most engaged (38% highly engaged) and employees with less than a high school education were the least engaged (25% highly engaged).
Employees with a PhD, however, also reported the highest levels of pressure about job security (30%), having the resources to do their job effectively (30%), stress at work (29%) and struggling to maintain work-life balance (33%).
The survey found the same pattern when it compared employees with master’s degrees to those with less education, noting that even more employees with master’s degrees frequently worry about stress (39%) and their work-life balance (25%).
“Having more education may mean an employee is more sought after in the job market, however, these educated employees are also feeling job stress and pressure,” said Annie Balant, director of employee research at GfK Research Dynamics, in a press release. “It is critical for employers to realize that their success is tied to retaining key staff and the expertise they hold.”
The survey found highest job engagement rates in construction (41% highly engaged), professional and business services (34%), information technology (33%) and public utilities (32%).
It found that disengagement is highest in the retail sector (40% neutral or disengaged), real estate (38%), public administration (38%), education (32%) and manufacturing (31%).
Jenny Wagler
Twitter: JennyWagler_BIV