Good Work Index | Survey reports

The CIPD Good Work Index is an annual benchmark of job quality in the UK. Each year, we survey more than 5,000 workers from different sectors and occupations about key aspects of their work and employment to offer evidence-based insights for people professionals, employers and policy-makers to improve work and working lives.

The research examines how people work and what they think about it. We capture data on seven dimensions of work to develop a picture of what good work looks like. These seven dimensions are:

Pay and benefits
Contracts
Work–life balance
Job design and the nature of work
Relationships at work
Employee voice
Health and wellbeing.

The CIPD Good Work Index includes two UK-wide reports (a survey report and a summary report), and four local reports which will be published in following weeks – North of England; Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland (titled Working Lives Scotland).

Latest findings

In our latest research, workplace conflict emerged as the central focus of analysis. The headline result is positive, as the proportion of employees having experienced conflict at work over 12 months dropped from 30% in 2019 to 25% in 2024. But those with protected characteristics were more severely impacted, leading to negative outcomes like lower job satisfaction, poorer mental health and higher levels of exhaustion. Experiencing conflict was also linked to poorer perceptions of senior leaders and managers’ roles in encouraging employee voice.

Meanwhile, increasing numbers of workers are viewing work as transactional – simply for the money. While not a major problem on its own, combining this trend with other findings does suggest the risk of a slide into mediocre work with demotivated, uncommitted and unproductive staff.

Our research provides details of these and other findings along with insight and practical guidance to help people professionals, employers and policy-makers understand the issues and take action to improve outcomes for individuals, organisations and the economy.

While these findings are based on UK data, the broader trends and implications should be of interest wherever you are based.

Download our latest reports below

CIPD Good Work Index 2024 | Survey report

Download the survey report

PDF document 1.2 MB

CIPD Good Work Index 2024 | Summary report and practical guidance

Download the summary report and guidance

PDF document 1.2 MB

CIPD view on good work

The CIPD believes that good work is fundamental to individual wellbeing, supports a strong, fair society, and creates motivated workers, productive organisations and a strong economy.

We define ‘good work’ as work that:

is fairly rewarded
gives people the means to securely make a living
provides opportunities to develop skills and a career and gives a sense of fulfilment
delivers a supportive environment with constructive relationships
allows for work–life balance
is physically and mentally healthy for people
gives people the voice and choice they need to shape their working lives
is accessible to all.