Well‑being in the workplace: Measuring job quality

While employment is a strong determinant of people’s life satisfaction, what matters is not just having a job, but also what kind of job. Measuring the quality of employment is challenging, as it covers many different aspects, from work content and autonomy in decision-making to interactions with colleagues and support from managers, as well as more traditional dimensions such as earnings and job security. Job quality is analysed by bringing together various measurement frameworks and by looking at a range of indicators. A special focus is put on subjective well‑being in the workplace which is a function of various requirements and opportunities that people face at work. Work autonomy, well-defined work goals, appropriate feedback on the work performed and supportive colleagues are conducive to personal accomplishment. When combined with negative work atmosphere and poor workplace organisation, heavy workloads and great time pressures can impair health. These aspects of employment quality are, however, difficult to convert into cross-country comparable indicators as their measurement partly relies on workers’ subjective judgement about their job. Further work is needed to enable the implementation of such indicators in an international context.