Workplace joy is often treated as a soft measure, difficult to define, hard to quantify, and even harder to connect to business performance.
But findings from The Global Workplace Joy Index, based on the views of 17,450 employees and 8,920 HR leaders across 27 countries, suggest otherwise. Joy at work is measurable, varies significantly across markets, and is closely linked to outcomes that matter to every organisation: retention, productivity, engagement, and advocacy.
The research also reveals a critical challenge. HR leaders consistently see a more positive picture of the employee experience than employees themselves report.
That disconnect is visible globally. In Australia, it's particularly pronounced.
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Australia sits below the global average for workplace joy
The Global Workplace Joy Index gives Australia a score of 60 out of 100, placing it below the global average of 63.
Australia sits toward the lower end of the 27 countries surveyed:
- India leads the global rankings with a Joy Index score of 73.
- Mexico and Peru follow at 72.
- The USA records a score of 68.
- The UK sits at 62.
- Australia records 60.
- Japan has the lowest score at 47.
At a regional level, the Anglo Cultures grouping (Australia, the UK, and the US) sits at the global baseline with a score of 63. However, the regional figure masks a clear difference between markets: the USA scores above average, while Australia and the UK score below it.
Australia’s result is not simply a reflection of economic prosperity or working conditions. As the global report shows, workplace joy is shaped by a combination of cultural expectations, economic context, workplace relationships, and the everyday experience of work.
In fast-growing markets such as India, Mexico, and Peru, rising wages and a sense of upward mobility may be contributing to higher optimism and self-reported joy. Workers in mature economies such as Australia, Germany, and the UK may be benchmarking their experience against higher expectations while also managing cost-of-living pressures, slower real-wage growth, and greater uncertainty.
The result is a reminder that workplace joy is highly local. Global comparisons are useful, but they do not tell the whole story. To understand what's happening in Australia, we need to look beneath the headline scores.
Most Australian workers are experiencing moderate rather than high joy
Australia’s overall score is shaped by a distribution in which medium joy is much more common than high joy.
Among Australian workers:
- 54% fall into the Medium Joy category;
- 28% fall into the Low Joy category;
- And just 19% fall into the High Joy category.
This suggests that joy is present for many Australian workers, but is not yet deeply felt or consistently experienced.
The Global Workplace Joy Index measures joy through ten dimensions, including energy, enthusiasm, pride, purpose, connection, appreciation, burnout, frustration, engagement, and likelihood to recommend an employer.
This broader definition matters. An employee may enjoy aspects of their role while also feeling under-recognised, disconnected from leadership, or uncertain about their future. Workplace joy is not one isolated emotion; it's the result of many everyday experiences adding up over time.
Australia has the largest leadership perception gap in the study
The most significant Australian finding isn't the Joy Index score, it's the gap between how workers experience work and how HR leaders believe they experience it:
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Australian workers rate their own workplace joy at 6.1 out of 10.
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HR leaders estimate that workers experience joy at 7.8 out of 10.
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That represents a 1.7-point perception gap — the largest of any market surveyed.
Globally, HR leaders rate employee joy at 7.6 out of 10, compared with 6.6 among workers, creating an average gap of 1.0 point. The Australian gap is therefore substantially wider than the global baseline.
This doesn't mean that Australian HR leaders are indifferent to employee experience. Leaders are operating in increasingly complex environments, with more distributed workforces, greater generational diversity, and a long list of competing organisational priorities.
The challenge is visibility.
Leaders may have access to engagement surveys, performance data, and HR dashboards, but still lack a clear view of how work feels day to day. The signals that indicate declining morale, frustration, or disengagement may be diluted by annual or infrequent surveys, inconsistent feedback, or a reliance on averages that conceal important differences between teams and employee groups.
The data suggests that Australian leaders may be directionally aware of employee sentiment, but overestimate its strength.
The perception gap extends into communication
The difference between employee and HR leader perceptions is particularly clear when Australian workers are asked about communication.
Only 48% of workers rate the regularity of business updates from leadership as good or excellent. Among HR decision makers, that figure rises to 80%.
Communication about how business decisions are made receives an even lower rating from workers:
- 39% of workers rate this communication positively.
- 79% of HR leaders do so.
Communication about employee benefits shows a similar pattern:
- 50% of workers rate it positively.
- 78% of HR leaders rate it positively.
Manager communication performs better, with 62% of Australian workers rating their manager’s openness and honesty positively. However, even here, there is room to improve.
These findings point to a fundamental issue: organisations may believe they are communicating frequently and effectively, while employees experience communication as less regular, less transparent, or less relevant than leaders assume.
That matters because communication is not only about distributing information. It shapes trust, belonging, and confidence in leadership. When employees don't understand why decisions are being made, or feel that important information is reaching them inconsistently, uncertainty can quickly undermine workplace joy.
The same pattern appears globally across engagement and feedback
Australia’s experience reflects a broader global trend.
Across all markets:
- 66% of HR leaders believe employees are more engaged than they were 12 months ago.
- Only 37% of workers say they are more engaged.
- 18% of workers say they are less engaged, compared with just 6% of HR leaders.
This creates a 29-percentage-point gap between HR and worker perceptions of increased engagement.
The gap is also evident in feedback and performance conversations:
- 74% of HR leaders rate the quality of feedback and performance conversations as good or excellent.
- Only 52% of workers agree.
The difference suggests that employee experience cannot be inferred from the existence of a process. An organisation may offer performance reviews, one-to-ones, or engagement surveys, but that doesn't necessarily mean employees experience those activities as useful, regular, or high quality.
The question is not simply whether communication or feedback exists. It's whether it's reaching people in a way that feels timely, clear, and meaningful.
Joy has a measurable relationship with retention
The business case for understanding workplace joy is clear in both the global and Australian data.
Globally, 94% of High Joy workers expect to stay with their employer for the next 12 months, compared with 63% of Low Joy workers. That represents a 31-point retention swing.
In Australia, the relationship is even more pronounced:
- 80% of Australian workers say they are likely to stay with their current employer over the next 12 months.
- Among High Joy workers, this increases to 98%.
The reasons people stay help explain why joy matters.
Globally, the leading reasons workers give for staying include:
- Enjoying the work
- Feeling secure in their job
- Liking the people they work with
- Having a good work-life balance
Pay only just makes the top five.
When workers are asked why they might leave, the picture changes. Pay and compensation move to the top of the list, followed by issues such as feeling undervalued and dissatisfaction with leadership.
The Australian findings show the same contrast. Among Australian workers who are unlikely to stay, the leading reasons include:
- Better pay: 36%
- Dissatisfaction with management or leadership: 33%
- Limited opportunities for progression: 32%
- Not feeling valued or recognised: 32%
This distinction is important. Retention is not created by salary alone. People stay because of the quality of their day-to-day experience, the work itself, their relationships, their sense of security, and their work-life balance.
But when those foundations are weakened, pay becomes a powerful reason to leave.
Joy is also linked to productivity
Workplace joy is closely associated with how productive employees feel.
Globally:
- 73% of High Joy workers feel more productive than they did 12 months ago.
- Only 27% of Low Joy workers say the same.
In Australia, among workers who say they feel more productive, 68% are High Joy workers, compared with just 29% who are Low Joy workers.
By contrast, one in three Australian Low Joy workers say they feel less productive.
These findings don't prove that joy alone causes productivity to rise. Productivity is influenced by many factors, including workload, tools, leadership, skills, and operating conditions.
However, the relationship is too consistent to ignore. Employees who feel energised, valued, connected, and purposeful are more likely to report that they are performing at their best.
As Fiona Blaine, Employee Experience Manager at O’Brien, notes in the report:
“Productivity is shaped by the experience people have every day, not simply by tools, pay, or programs. When work is meaningful with visible and valued impact, and people feel a genuine sense of connection and belonging, they are more engaged and more likely to perform at their best.”
For Australian organisations, the implication is clear: improving workplace joy shouldn't be viewed as separate from improving performance.
Recognition is one of the clearest opportunities
Recognition emerges as one of the most practical levers available to organisations.
Globally, only 18% of workers receive formal or informal recognition from their manager at least three times a month.
Yet moving from zero recognition to just one instance of recognition per month is associated with a substantial improvement in business outcomes:
- The proportion of workers likely to stay rises from 73% to 86%.
- The proportion who feel more productive rises from 34% to 57%.
- Productivity increases by an average of 23 percentage points.
The Australian data tells a similar story.
Nearly one in three Australian workers (29%) say receiving recognition was one of the moments of joy that had the biggest impact on them.
Where recognition is absent, joy is lower:
- Among workers who received no recognition from their manager in the previous month, 42% are Low Joy workers.
- Among those recognised by their manager three to five times in the previous month, around one in three are High Joy workers.
- Just 7% of this regularly recognised group are Low Joy workers.
Despite this, recognition is not yet embedded in the everyday employee experience:
- Only 21% of Australian workers say their organisation provides regular recognition from managers.
- And only 22% say their organisation encourages peer-to-peer appreciation.
Recognition doesn't need to take the form of a large financial reward or formal ceremony. The findings suggest that small, timely, and meaningful moments can have a significant cumulative effect.
The most important step may be helping managers turn recognition into a habit.
Benefits provide a foundation for joy
Recognition is an accessible short-term lever, but the global findings also point to the importance of a broader benefits ecosystem.
High Joy workers globally receive an average of five benefits, compared with three among Low Joy workers.
Every benefit category measured in the study is associated with a Joy Index score above the global average of 63. The strongest associations include:
- Financial wellbeing tools: 71
- Employee reward programs: 70
- Employee recognition programs: 70
- Learning and development: 69
- Health and wellbeing programs: 68
- Flexible working arrangements: 66
The data suggests that benefits work cumulatively. No single benefit is likely to transform workplace culture on its own. Instead, a joined-up package can reduce financial pressure, support wellbeing, create flexibility, and give employees opportunities to grow.
In Australia, workers identify the leading ways their organisations enable workplace joy as:
- Flexibility in how and when they work: 32%
- Growth and learning opportunities: 31%
- A positive company culture: 30%
- Good employee benefits: 28%
- Supportive leadership: 27%
However, recognition again falls lower down the list:
- Peer-to-peer appreciation: 22%
- Regular recognition from managers: 21%
This creates a clear opportunity. Recognition appears to be one of the strongest links to joy, yet it's less likely than flexibility, learning, and culture to be actively built into the workplace experience.
Australian workers want more than salary
Pay remains the leading factor Australian workers would look for in a new role; 64% say a higher-paying role would be most important if they were searching for a new job.
But the rest of the data shows that employees are making a broader calculation about what makes a role attractive.
Better benefits and better flexibility are joint second priorities at 30% each, followed by:
- A job that brings more joy: 28%
- Career progression: 26%
In addition, 44% of Australian workers say employee benefits are just as important as salary.
This reflects the global findings, where benefits are the second most important factor workers look for in a new role, behind higher base pay and ahead of career progression, flexibility, and job security.
The importance of benefits also varies by career stage:
- 75% of senior executives globally rate benefits as equally important to, or more important than, base salary.
- The same is true for 60% of mid-level employees.
- One in five Gen Z workers say benefits are among the factors contributing most to their joy at work.
For Australian employers, this has implications for attraction as well as retention. A competitive Employee Value Proposition must address pay, but it must also show how the organisation supports people’s wellbeing, flexibility, growth, and everyday experience.
Belonging is stronger among High Joy workers
Workplace joy is not built through benefits alone.
Connection and belonging are important parts of the experience, and the Australian findings show a strong relationship between these factors and High Joy.
Across the Australian workforce:
- 70% say they can be their authentic self at work.
- 73% say they feel that they belong and are part of a team.
Among High Joy workers, these figures rise to:
- 94% who feel able to be their authentic self.
- 96% who feel that they belong and are part of a team.
The global report shows a similar pattern. 94% of High Joy workers globally report a strong sense of belonging, compared with just 33% of Low Joy workers. Likewise, 93% of High Joy workers feel comfortable being their authentic selves at work, compared with 38% of Low Joy workers.
However, belonging between colleagues is only one part of the equation. Trust in senior leadership is an even sharper differentiator globally:
- 85% of High Joy workers trust their senior leaders.
- Only 16% of Low Joy workers say the same.
This reinforces the importance of leadership behaviour. A positive workplace culture cannot be built solely through social activities or peer connection. Employees also need to believe that senior leaders are credible, transparent, and acting in the interests of the organisation and its people.
Closing the workplace joy gap: Tips for Australian organisations
Our data points to four priorities that Australian organisations can focus on to close this workplace joy gap.
1. Listen more often and more closely
The Australian perception gap shows that leaders cannot assume they have an accurate view of employee sentiment.
Regular pulse surveys, structured listening sessions, manager check-ins, and feedback channels can help identify changes in morale before they become retention or performance problems.
2. Communicate with greater transparency
Employees need more than regular updates. They need to understand how decisions are made, what those decisions mean for them, and where the organisation is heading.
Communication should be measured by how well it's understood and experienced by employees, not simply by whether it has been sent.
3. Make recognition a consistent management habit
Recognition should happen frequently, fairly, and close to the contribution being recognised.
Moving from no recognition to one meaningful moment per month is associated globally with substantial gains in retention and productivity. The opportunity is particularly significant in Australia, where recognition is strongly linked to joy but remains relatively underutilised.
4. Build an employee experience that works as a system
Benefits, flexibility, development, wellbeing, culture, and recognition shouldn't be treated as isolated initiatives.
Together, they help address the practical and emotional conditions that enable people to do their best work. A strong employee experience reduces everyday friction while also supporting belonging, growth, and purpose.
The opportunity for Australian organisations
Australia’s workplace joy score of 60 places it below the global average. It also has the largest perception gap in the study between employee experience and leadership perception. But the findings offer a clear path forward.
Joy is linked to retention. It's linked to productivity. It's powered by recognition, belonging, benefits, communication, and trust in leadership.
The organisations most likely to improve workplace joy won't necessarily be those with the most elaborate programs. They'll be the ones that develop a more accurate understanding of employee experience and then act consistently on what they hear.
For Australian organisations, the opportunity exists to close the distance between what leaders believe employees experience and what employees actually feel.
That starts with listening more closely, communicating more transparently, and making people feel recognised, supported, and connected in the everyday experience of work.
About the research
The Global Workplace Joy Index is based on a 15-minute online survey conducted by Opinium between 6 and 24 July 2026. The research surveyed 26,370 respondents, including 17,450 workers and 8,920 HR leaders, across 27 countries.
The Joy Index is a composite score from 0 to 100, based on ten measures covering energy, enthusiasm, pride, purpose, connection, appreciation, burnout, frustration, engagement, and likelihood to recommend an employer.
Workers are grouped into three categories:
- Low Joy: 0–49
- Medium Joy: 50–74
- High Joy: 75–100
Want to discover more insights? Download The Global Workplace Joy Index now.
