If we were to look at the numbers, the U.S. job market came through January in much better shape than expected despite a winter wave of coronavirus infections.
According to a new tally from the Labor Department, employers added 467,000 jobs last month, far outpacing even the most optimistic forecasts. Which is even more impressive when you consider the surge in COVID-19 cases brought on by the omicron variant.
The unemployment rate inched up to 4% in January from 3.9% the month before, but that's only because nearly 1.4 million people entered the job market.
The positive report was good news for the Biden administration, which had been bracing for worse numbers.
"America is back to work," President Biden told reporters at the White House on Friday. "Our country is taking everything that COVID has to throw at us and we've come back stronger."
The share of people working or looking for work has increased, spelling possible relief on the horizon for employers who have struggled to fill vacant spots amidst the Great Resignation.
But according to a 2017 Gallup poll, only 15% of the world's one billion full-time employees are engaged at work.
Surprisingly, the situation is significantly better in the U.S., where this figure is around 30%, but this still means that roughly 70% of American workers aren't satisfied with how things are going.
In her book Happiness At Work, Jessica Pryce-Jones pinpoints the major elements that contribute to a person's happiness or discontent. She thinks that if a worker has high levels of confidence, commitment, conviction, contribution and culture fit, paired with feelings of recognition, pride and trust in the company, they will achieve their potential at work.
But not all of these things are in the hands of the employers. Happiness also depends on our own attitude and perception. "We expect that something has to happen in order for us to be happy," Srikumar Rao, professor at the London Business School, told Forbes.
