We evaluated the relations within our current workplace and found them to be more positive, however, we would benefit from having a better financial income, with more motivating benefits. Changes in the home office settings have affected almost 2/5 of Czechs who are allowed to work from home.
The survey was conducted in six countries of the European National Panel in May 2024 on a total sample of n=6198, representative of the countries population aged 15+ (Czech Republic n=1034, Slovakia n=1027, Poland n=1007, Hungary n=1004, Bulgaria n=1085, Romania n=1042).
The European National Panel conducted an internal PR survey in May 2024, in which we focused on people’s satisfaction in their current employment. We were interested in finding out how they rate their team that they currently work with and adversly what annoys them most about their current workplace, but also, conversely, what motivates them, and what it would take more of to convince them to stay in their current employment. We also looked at the extent to which employers have restricted their employees from working from home – home office and working from home.
Czechs most often work in teams of 6-10 people, and in more than half of the work teams they use more informal communication. However, are Czechs more confrontational in the workplace than other countries surveyed?
In total, we surveyed a representative sample of 6,198 respondents in all ENP countries, of which a total of 60% said that they currently work full-time, part-time, temporary or self-employment. In the Czech Republic, 56% of respondents said that they are employed, representative of 57% men and 43% women.
While in the Czech Republic only 14% of the respondents work within a collective of more than 30 people, whereas Romania the figure exceeds that at 32% of the working participants. Compared to other ENP countries, it was reported that 19% of Bulgarians are the most likely to work together in pairs or trios. In our findings, a vast majority of work teams consist of 6 to 10 people, where the Czechs are working in them more often (23%).
More than two-fifths report that their workplace has “friendly relations”, i.e. they meet their colleagues outside of working hours, they rate the atmosphere at work as rather pleasant, with an openess for colleagues to be able to discuss topics about their personal life including family members with their colleagues. The most friends and friendly working environment are found among colleagues within work teams in the Czech Republic (55%) and Slovakia (51%). On the other hand, ‘professional relationships’ based mainly on mutual cooperation, and respecting work roles and excluding the personal element by not discussing personal life are more common in Romania (44%). Hungarians (38%) and 9% of Czechs describe their workplace relationships as “conflictual” and perceive the workplace atmosphere as stifling, where they encounter work disagreements and disputes on a personal level, they also found that communication was lacking and was perceived as insufficient. This is significantly higher than in the overall sample (6%). Conflictual working relationships are less frequent in Poland (5%) and Bulgaria (5%).
In terms of general communication at the workplace, more than half of the working respondents ‘chat’ with all their colleagues . This is reported by 79% of Bulgarians, 68% of Poles, including 61% of Slovaks and 55% of Czechs. On the other hand in Romania and Hungary, we found significantly more frequent collectives where were used formae this was reported by 26% of Romanians and 19% of Hungarians.
Inadequate financial compensation, poor benefits, gossiping about colleagues behind their backs – these are the top 3 things that bother Czechs most in their current workplace
We were also interested in what causes the most dissatisfaction at their current job. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the most frequently cited reason is the inadequate financial compensation (32%). Bulgarians are the least satisfied with their salary (38%), while Hungarians cited this reason significantly less often (28%) compared to other countries. 31% of Czechs are also dissatisfied with their financial remuneration, with significantly more of those aged 45-59 (45%). Another reason for dissatisfaction is the lack of the motivating benefits (23%), cited by up to 1/3 of Hungarians and 30% of Czechs. Unreasonable workload (working under pressure, stress, etc.) is a concern for 18% of respondents. Romanians feel under pressure at work the most (22%) and Poles the least pressure at (16%). One in ten Czechs and Poles are dissatisfied with their direct supervisor. Company management or TOP MANAGEMENT is the reason for dissatisfaction for 13% of Czechs and Slovaks. 16% of Hungarians and Czechs complain about lack of communication. Hungarians in particular complain about a lack of appreciation (24%) and a lack of respect (15%). Work-life imbalance is also a concern (14%). 16% of both Bulgarians and Poles worry about the lack of opportunities for further development at work. Nonsensical bureaucracy (lengthy approval processes) annoys 16% of Czechs the most, significantly Czech men.
A representative of only 6% were found to be annoyed by their colleagues in the team, and most of all Czech men (8%). And what specifically annoys them the most? 17% state that it is gossiping about their colleagues behind their backs, which according to the recorded answers and data analysis is probably the most popular “sport” in Slovakia (22%) and the Czech Republic (21%), while it is the least popular in Romania (12%) and Bulgaria (15%). The vocal expressions of colleagues such as expressive laughter, joking, self-talk, etc. are complained about by 8% of working respondents. Unhygenic and smelly colleagues spoil the working atmosphere for 6% of workers, the highest being in Hungary (8%) and the lowest in the Czech Republic (3%). 5% of respondents cannot agree on a comfortable temperature in the common working area. Food disappears from the shared fridge for 2% of respondents, most of all Hungarians (4%).
Do Czech employers need to monitor their employees more? 1/5 of working Czechs report that they are not pressurized into overworking and is a main factor for staying in their current job.
While there are plenty of things that can annoy our respondents in the workplace, still 71% of them rate the relationships in their current workplace as a positive experience, on a scale between, (definitely + rather good). Up to 35% of Bulgarians consider them to be definitely good. Czechs also rate their workplace relations as mainly or to rather good (41%), with 29% declaring even definitely good workplace relations. 5% of Czechs would describe them as rather bad and 1% as definitely bad.
As for the reasons why people stay in their current workplace, is demonstrated where up to 43% say it is because they enjoy and find the work they do fulfilling. This is most often cited by Czechs (55%), Slovaks (48%) and Bulgarians (48%), and least often by Poles and Romanians (35%). The next most frequently cited advantage of their current workplace is that it is close to where they live, i.e. they work in a convenient location (42%).
More than 1/3 of the respondents say that one of the reasons is that they do not have many other options and would find it difficult to look for a new job (35%). Romanians (40%) and Hungarians (39%) are the most likely to feel this way, Bulgarians (29%) the least. Benefits motivate 23% of Bulgarians to stay and also 21% of Romanians. A great supervisor is also a reason why 27% of Poles stay in their job. The same percentage of Poles stay because of the team and their colleagues.
Good financial remuneration keeps 30% of respondents in work, with the highest percentage of Czechs (35%) and Romanians (35%).
Perhaps some employers should pay more attention to the efficiency of their employees and look what they could do to implement, for a more productive and working environment in order to improve control mechanisms. Indeed, up to 22% of respondents say that they stay in their jobs also because they do not get overworked or because no one is watching what they are actually doing. This is significantly higher in Bulgaria (27%) and Poland (25%), while in Romania only 15% of working panellists say this, and in the Czech Republic almost 1/5 of respondents say this.
Changes in the home office setup have been felt by 17% of working respondents. 18% of Czechs surveyed do not need to go to the workplace at all, and a maximum of 2 days of HO per week was found to be more favourable in the Czech Republic
Recently, the topic of working from home – home office – has been frequently discussed among workers and employers. Some companies have decided that it’s time to bring their employees back to the workplace and are setting a maximum number of days per month that you can work from home. 60% of the working respondents we surveyed told us that they are in a profession that alllowed them to work from home. Out of the 60 percent, 17% said that their employer has restricted them from working from home over a few recent months. The countries surveyed are not significantly significant in this respect.
And how are we currently doing with the home office? Of those whose profession and employer allowed them to work from home, up to 28% are not required to go to the workplace at all and can only work from home, highest with the Czechs (33%), and the least often the Romanians (20%). More than 1/5 of working respondents who can work from home can use home office less than 3 times a month, most often in Bulgaria (30%). 15% can afford a maximum of 2 days home office per week, this rule is most common in the Czech Republic (22%) and Hungary (20%).