High Spirits: Marijuana, E-Cigarette, & Tobacco Store Workers Top Happiness Charts in Latest Research On Sentiment Of Frontline Employees
SAN FRANCISCO, CA., June 11, 2024 — Some of the industries with the happiest hourly workers are serving “happy chemicals” to consumers, according to the latest research released by Deputy, the global people platform for hourly work, in its annual Shift Pulse Report.
Retail tops the list for happiest hourly workers
Retailers seem to be doing something right — despite retail worker shortages, the industry holds the medal for happiest shift workers. Among industry sectors surveyed, retail stands out with the highest percentage of employees feeling "amazing" after shifts at 52%. The second highest industry sector in 2024 was hospitality, with 50% of workers leaving shifts feeling “amazing.”
Among retail workers:
- Those employed at tobacco, e-cigarette and marijuana stores rated the most “amazing” shifts (70%). Another 18% of shifts left them feeling “good,” netting 87% of shifts with positive emotions.
- 90% of gym workers cite positive emotions after shifts — with 59% feeling “amazing” and 32% feeling “good.”
- 90% of cafe/coffee shop workers cite positive emotions after shifts — with 59% feeling "amazing" (tied with gym workers) and 32% feeling “good.”
A healthcare divide
Overall, the healthcare industry reported mostly positive emotions, with more than three quarters (78%) of shifts leaving workers feeling good or amazing — remaining steady from 2023 (77%). But despite serving up health and wellness, not all healthcare workers are getting the same feel-good vibes.
- Dentists experienced the highest rates of shift satisfaction among healthcare workers, with a whopping 96% of shifts inspiring positive emotions (87% saying “amazing” and 9% saying “good”).
- Hospital workers also expressed satisfaction with their shifts, with 85% reporting positive emotions after shifts (56% saying “amazing” and 28% saying “good”).
- On the other side of the scale, outpatient care centers had higher rates of negative emotions among healthcare workers, with 11% saying they left their shift feeling stressed or frustrated.
- Animal health workers also reported higher rates of negative emotions, with 9% of workers saying their shift left them stressed or frustrated.
Supply chain workers need support
With supply chain issues persisting, 2024 is shaping up to be another challenging year for workers. And while the conversation around supply chain disruptions is frequently focused on empty shelves, or customer dissatisfaction, these pressures may be impacting the individuals working in this sector.
- Among the industries surveyed, warehousing and storage workers were the least satisfied with their work — 19% said they felt stressed or frustrated after their shifts.
- 13% of delivery and postal service workers reported leaving shifts stressed or frustrated.
- 11% of logistics, distribution, and freight workers also saw stressful or frustrating shifts this year.
- 9% of manufacturing workers left shifts frustrated or stressed.
“The U.S. depends on hourly workers — their happiness should be critically important to all of us, so it’s great to see that the vast majority of workers are leaving their shifts feeling good,” said Silvija Martincevic, CEO of Deputy. “Perhaps not surprisingly, we’re seeing worker sentiment is highest in industries that provide customers with products and experiences that make them happy, but the industries where we’re seeing higher levels of stress and frustration are equally important. We’d love for all employees to feel good after their shifts and remain dedicated to improving the world of work with technology.”
Download a copy of the U.S. Shift Pulse Report here.
About the Shift Pulse Report
Deputy’s Shift Pulse Report measures the sentiment hourly workers across Hospitality, Healthcare, Retail, and Services have towards their work. This is the second instalment of the annual report which uses insights collected through Deputy’s Shift Pulse feature. The feature helps businesses easily capture continuous feedback from employees who are able to rate how they felt about their shift on a sliding scale, from “stressed” to "amazing". 421,000 Shift Pulse Survey responses from across the United States were analyzed for this report. Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number and may not add up to a complete 100 percent.
About Deputy
Deputy is the global people platform for hourly work. Its intuitive software strengthens employer-employee connections, streamlines compliance obligations, and revolutionises how hourly workers and businesses operate together, creating workplaces that thrive.
Over 330,000 workplaces use Deputy to create better work-life experiences for 1.4 million scheduled workers globally. Visit www.deputy.com, or find us on Twitter, Facebook, the App Store or Google Play for more information.
