You know the old saying, statistics never lie, statisticians do.
I’m hoping the folks over at CareerBliss.com are statisticians. They’re the ones who ranked Boston #21 in happiest working cities. That’s gotta be a lie, right? You’re telling me that employees in El Paso are happier than us? Des Moines? (The Hartford of the West!) Minneapolis?! I don’t know what my issue is with Minnesota. But clearly, I have one.
CareerBliss conducted independent company reviews from employees nationwide. They collected a total of 200,000 data points on eight factors of workplace happiness: growth opportunities, compensation, benefits, work-life balance, career advancement, senior management, job security, and whether the employee would recommend the company to others. The factors were then ranked on the importance of the factor in the employee’s overall happiness. The numbers were combined to find an average overall workplace happiness rating.
Those seem like reasonable evaluators. And my dad sent me the article, which gives it more credibility. But how come we’re so low? I love Boston! I love working here! I have never once thought I would be happier working in San Jose. (What a commute! Rimshot.) I know a few people who fled New York City for the West Coast, but that’s understandable. But leave Boston?! Maybe if you got traded or something, but I’m pretty sure Career Bliss wasn’t targeting pro athletes. (Let this be a lesson to folks who think Minneapolis has better job security! Rimshot! I am on a ROLL today.)
Of course, I’m also the girl who was waxing poetic about the T last week. So maybe I’m not the best judge of awesome. Not to mention, I was pretty content in #26, Hartford. Hold up, Hartford is #26?! People hate Hartford! And Detroit is #23? Okay, this is just madness here. How on earth is Boston only 2 spots above Detroit!? (Good news: St. Paul, MN is 50th. Take that, Minnesota!)
I never answered one of these surveys, so I’m putting this on you people. Why you gotta hate!?
Actually, let’s not point fingers here. But really — what is falling short in Boston? I know that we’re got a pretty high cost of living, so maybe that makes your salary seem lower. Has the New England Puritan work ethic destroyed your work-life balance? Is the metro-region’s 7.1% unemployment rate making you nervous about retaining your current position? Or do you just hate your boss? (For the record, I love my boss. I love all of my bosses. They’re the best bosses in the world. In case they’re reading this.)
But I wanna know. And I bet all those people spending tons of money doing surveys and trying to plan a city around our demographic (one in three Bostonians!) want to know, too. And if you also love Boston, you should want to know, too. We’re all in this together.
Spill it: Why are you so unhappy? How can we make it better? Tweet it, Facebook it, or, best of all, break it down in our comments section.
Why is working in Boston making Bostonians unhappy?*
*Note: Ending these posts with questions makes me feel dangerously Carrie Bradshaw-ish. I promise never to ask you to reflect on your dating life or relationship history. I’m embarrassed that it’s even a reference I can make.
So, I find it pretty fishy that St. Paul would be so far behind Minneapolis. Where’s Cambridge on this list?
Also, I generally find our habit of splitting our work-lives off from the rest of our lives and trying to measure that happiness bizarre. I would put up with a ton of professional nonsense to live in a place that I actually like. I love walking out my door and having all the amazing stuff Boston has to offer within a walk or 30 minute T ride from me.
I wouldn’t trade that to live in Memphis (#6), El Paso (#7) or Birmingham, AL (#10) no matter how far up the list they are. I’ve been to those places and man, they’re not that sweet. And Jacksonville? Please!
Anyway, my point is that maybe in those places the numbers add up to “career happiness” but they don’t add up to anything that would make me happy.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Adam Gaffin, Devin Cole, Tom Bruno, Meg, NabeWise Boston and others. NabeWise Boston said: Interesting… RT @ONEin3: @mreils is mad that #Boston's not topping a list. So, we're unhappy in the workplace? http://ht.ly/3Tra2 [...]
I’m constantly amazed at how much I can get done in a lunch hour around work. I can knock out 6 real errands, that’s pretty valuable to me. I also love walking to work, walking by grocery stores on the way home from work. I love that work lets out at 5 (I know not all can say that) because I have a lot of other things to do, too.
The only other city I’ve worked in is Atlanta (#17) and I have nothing but miserable stories of driving, walking in 100 degree heat, no where to go to during lunch and getting home much later.
I’ll take Boston any day.
I think you might need to look at this from the other side…if you are from Detroit, or even just happen to live there now and have a job, you would be happy compared to the mountains of people around you who don’t. You would consider yourself lucky let alone happy. Places like Hartford, Memphis, and El Paso…if you are not being shot at…and have a job, you practically won the lottery…let alone are happy.
Also, consider towns that have or don’t have sports teams on the list. An ordinarily great Monday at work, scratch Monday, a great week at work could be wiped out with a Pats loss to the Browns or worse a playoff loss to the Jets…I know, I know, I said it within the required month of silence. Is anyone in Boston truly happy working right now trudging through the snow with pitchers and catchers reporting still a week away?
Most of the top 20 that have sports team, care little for them since they are literally fair weather fans. San Fran…they just won the World Series, and San Jose…have you seen the weather today? I would be happy to be unemployed there let alone earning a paycheck. These people are either just happy where they are, or happy they have a job over their neighbors.
I would agree with Harry on the weather: What time of year was this survey taken? I tend to be more stressed overall during the winter months.
I’d also be curious as to how the “work life” satisfaction survey compares to other surveys on general happiness in these cities. Bostonians can be cranky overall, and cranky people might rate their happiness as lower in every aspect of their lives than folks who are less cranky.
For the record, I also love working in Boston. For all the gripes I have about the weather, the T, the housing costs, there isn’t much better than taking a walk to the Long Wharf during lunch in the summer to watch the sail boats.
Hooowwwdddyy Happy (and unhappy) People!
As the CEO and Co-founder of CareerBliss, I had to comment and say I love your article! Since we have an office in Boston (and we love Boston…especially the stopping, restaurants, sports teams and Boston Common…not to mention the really funny, sarcastic people) we thought Boston would come up higher on the list as well! We noticed that almost all of the Top 20 cities have good, warm weather. So, even the research is conducted all year long…it seems that when people have a little sunlight outside they feel happier and more appreciative at work. Places such as Jacksonville rated so high because of the big military bases and loyal workers there.
Thanks for mentioning us!
Heidi
CEO of CareerBliss
Heidi…thanks for joining the discussion!
[...] trudging through the snow with pitchers and catchers reporting still a week away?” - Harry Tweet of the Week: @NotSoNiceville: I’m from Alabama. The #MBTA can’t do ANYTHING that [...]