Cebu, Home to Some of the Philippines’ Happiest Employees

Even as Filipinos have already been proclaimed as the happiest workers in Southeast Asia, Cebuanos still managed not to be outdone by the national average.


According to the 2016 JobStreet.com Job Happiness Index Report, the average job satisfaction rating among Cebu's 518 respondents is 6.38 on a 10-point scale. This puts the province in the middle of the average ratings across the country and higher than the other labor-rich areas of CALABARZON, which has an average of 6.26; Metro Manila, with a score of 6.14, and Negros Island Region, which only managed a 6.09 average.

The Philippines has a happiness average of 6.25, which puts it on top among the seven Asian countries surveyed, the rest being Indonesia (6.16), Thailand (5.74), Hong Kong (5.54), Vietnam (5.48 ), Malaysia (5.22), and Singapore (5.09).

Cebu's job happiness index is also higher than the national average, with 76 of every 100 Cebuano employees claiming to be at least neutral to extremely happy with their jobs. The country's job happiness index is 73, which the CALABARZON region managed to tie. Meanwhile, Metro Manila and Negros Island Region have job happiness indexes of 71 and 67, respectively.

The survey also asked respondents to predict how satisfied with their jobs they will be in six months. Cebuanos presented a very optimistic view of their future, registering a 6.32 average versus the national average of 6.15, while CALABARZON, Metro Manila, and Negros Island Region have optimism averages of 6.23, 6.07 and 6.04, respectively.

More Details on Job Happiness and Optimism

When it comes to tenure, Cebuano employees who have stayed in their jobs for six months to less than a year claim to be the happiest, followed by those with three to less than five years' stay in their present jobs. Compared to the national results, Cebuano employees who have longer tenure in their current jobs appear to be happier, as they managed to get the second and third highest averages.

This is also reflected in the findings for position level, as although Cebuano fresh graduates averaged the highest at 6.49, a close second are those in the supervisory level with a 6.41 average. In the national results, supervisors are last with a 6.15 average.


The happiest Cebuano employees by industry also show a different result from the national findings. Although the province's government employees are still the happiest at 7.57, those working in the Cebu's retail and banking industries, which have the two lowest averages in the country, complete the top 3 happiest with their 7.13 and 6.69 averages.

Meanwhile, employees specializing in sciences, building and construction, and marketing are the happiest in Cebu, in contrast to education, arts and media, and accounting specialists who take the bottom three averages based on specialization.

As expected, when it comes to optimism, those who are only starting out in their jobs have the highest averages. Those who have stayed for less than six months and one year have the lowest averages of 7.04 and 6.53, respectively. Fresh graduates also have the highest job optimism average at 6.71.

By industry, employees in government, oil and gas and retail are the most optimistic. On the other hand, building and construction, administration, and marketing specialists have the most positive outlook regarding their careers in the next six months.

With regard to factors causing job happiness, Cebuanos place a high premium of good relationships with colleagues, convenient work location, and conducive work schedule. Meanwhile, the top factors that make employees unsatisfied with their jobs are poor salary, lack of benefits, and an uninspiring management and leadership team.

When asked what can increase their happiness at work, a whopping 31% of Cebuano respondents named a salary increase as their top factor. Fourteen percent would rather resign and take advantage of better opportunities, while 8% say getting further training and development opportunities will make them happier at work.