Who's looking forward to going back to work?

New data from You Gov reveals that three in ten workers (28%) feel their job is not fulfilling their potential as a person and more than a quarter (26%) sometimes feel trapped in their job.

Many people seem to be looking for more fulfilment in their work with 15% of people saying they are unhappy in their job because it is not rewarding and doesn’t make a difference to the world.

When asked to name which alternative career they would consider the top choices were teaching, gardening and counselling hypnotherapy. One in five people (19%) said they would consider a career change to counselling and hypnotherapy. Women are more than twice as likely to consider becoming a counsellor than men (13% vs 25%).
Unhappiness at work could be having a significant impact on the nation’s wellbeing. One in four say they are unhappy in their job because they are struggling with their stress levels (24%) and one in five (21%) are not happy with their “work/life balance”.

Survey respondents who have experienced stress said that it had caused them to miss social or family occasions (27%), take sick leave from work (18%) or go as far as to cancel or postpone a holiday (4%).

The finidings have been published by Chrysalis Courses whose head of counselling Lorna Cordwell said: “Many people will feel a little blue returning to work after the festive break but it’s worrying that one in four of us actually dread going back.

“Our research shows that many people want a more rewarding and fulfilling career but feel trapped in their job. It’s telling that the most popular alternative career choices of teaching, gardening and counselling/ hypnotherapy are all about nourishing and supporting growth.

Chrysalis Courses is the UK’s biggest counselling and hypnotherapy college. Lorna said: “Many of our students tell us they choose to train as counsellors or hypnotherapists because these careers offer a high degree of flexibility and work/life balance as well as being rewarding. People thinking about training as a counsellor or hypnotherapist often wonder if they are the right sort of person, but our students come from a huge range of backgrounds.”