A survey of 15,000 workers around the world found that less than a third think they have a 'healthy' relationship with their job

• Only 27% of workers worldwide said they have a healthy relationship with work, a new study found.
• The HP Workplace Relationship Index surveyed over 15,000 people in 12 countries about their relationship with work.

Most people don't have a healthy relationship with working and this is affecting their mental wellbeing, self-esteem, and their physical health, a new study by tech giant HP found.

HP released its first Workplace Relationship Index on September 20 which surveyed 15,624 people between June and July 2023 across 12 countries including the US, UK, Canada, India and Japan.

The study analyzed over 50 aspects of people's relationship with work from the role that work plays in their lives to the impact it has on their wellbeing.

The findings were somewhat bleak. Only 27% of knowledge workers said they have a healthy relationship with work, with a low of 5% in Japan and a high of 50% in India. Some 28% of workers in the US said they have a healthy relationship with work.

Overall almost a third of workers reported having an unhealthy relationship with work, while 41% were in what the study called the "watch-out zone."

Poor relationships with work are bleeding into other areas of worker's lives, HP's study reported, with over half of employees struggling with their mental wellbeing, and reporting having low self esteem and feeling like a failure as a result.

Almost half said that their personal relationships with family and friends suffer because of work, and 59% said they were too drained to pursue their passions.

Additionally, almost two-thirds of employees said they struggle to maintain healthy eating, working out, and getting a good night's sleep.

The study further found that workers have higher expectations about how they are treated at work now and 83% are even willing to take a pay cut if it means being happier at work.

Workers are willing to give up 13% of their salary to work where they want and when they want, and 11% of their salary to work somewhere with above average employee engagement.

These findings correlate with the fact that workplace trends like quiet quitting and burnout are on the rise, with 59% of workers worldwide reporting that they had quiet quit, according to a Gallup report in June.

Quiet quitting refers to employees who choose to do the bare minimum at work because they feel underpaid or unfulfilled by their role.

This lack of engagement at work doesn't just have a negative effect on employees and their companies, but also has significant economic impacts, Gallup found. It estimated that low workplace engagement costs around $8.8 trillion in negative impacts to economic output.