Working Lives Northern Ireland is the CIPD’s first dedicated report on job quality in Northern Ireland. Analysing seven dimensions of good work, the report provides insight on a range of issues from workforce health and wellbeing, through job autonomy and complexity, to skills and career development, with a view to informing public policy interventions and improved people practice.

Policy-makers, employers and people professionals across Northern Ireland need to act if they are to improve job quality for the whole of the workforce – not only aiming for more jobs, but better jobs. Working Lives Northern Ireland is a tool to support them in this work.

Download the report below

Key findings

COVID-19

• Employee preferences point to a hybrid future for those who can work from home. However, almost a third (32%) of all employees work in jobs that can’t be done from home.
• Key workers report worse job quality across many indicators, although they score better on questions around meaningful work.
• Homeworkers have seen some benefits, but also drawbacks, with those working fully from home reporting poorer relationships with colleagues and a more negative impact of work on health.

Pay and benefits

• There is correlation between life and job satisfaction and pay levels.
• 37% of all Northern Irish employees feel they are not getting paid appropriately, rising to 50% for the lowest earners.
• Public sector employees report much more generous employer pension contributions compared with private sector employees.

Contracts

• We see a link between job security and pay, with those on higher salaries reporting higher levels of job security.
• 12% of all employees say they would like to work more hours than they currently do.
• Those in the lowest occupational groups are reporting the highest levels of underemployment.

Work-life balance

• Nearly a third (31%) of all employees say they find it hard to relax in their personal time because of their job.
• There are significant gaps in the availability of formal flexible working arrangements across Northern Ireland.
• Employees who work flexibly report higher job satisfaction, are more likely to be motivated by their organisation’s purpose and have better skills development opportunities.

Job design and nature of work

• 40% of all employees report their workload as too high in a normal week.
• 12% of those working fully from home say they don’t have a suitable space to do their job effectively.
• Skills and career development opportunities are significantly lower for those in lower-paid jobs, as well as older workers.

Relationships at work

• We find better relationships with colleagues for those working from home only some of the time and those not working from home at all compared with those working fully from home.
• Nearly a fifth (18%) of employees feel their boss would hold it against them if they made a mistake.
• 26% of all employees experienced at least one type of conflict at work, with 15% saying they experienced two or more types.

Voice and representation

• Over a fifth (21%) of employees say they have no voice channel at work at all.
• The availability of voice channels differs significantly by organisation size.
• Employees who work flexibly rate their managers significantly better than those not working flexibly, underlining the importance of good management to enabling flexible work.

Health and wellbeing

• Nearly a third (31%) of employees feel their work impacts negatively on their mental health, with 28% reporting negative impacts on their physical health.
• A worrying 45% of all employees report going to work despite not being well enough to do so. This is even higher for those with adult caring responsibilities (61%), with disabilities (64%) and for key workers (52%).
• Nearly a third (31%) of employees always or often feel exhausted at work, with 28% saying they feel under excessive pressure.