Employees looking for authentic rewards

There is no 'job retention' without 'joy retention', that is, there is no possibility of retaining talent in the company without first having created the conditions for a positive work experience. This was reiterated by international research carried out in July 2026 by Opinium which calculated the 'global workplace joy index' (global index of satisfaction and well-being at work) involving 17,450 employees and 8,920 human resources managers and 'decision makers' resident in 27 countries.

Promoted by Edenred, an employee benefits specialist, and based in Italy on a sample of a thousand workers and 400 HR managers, the study produced a 'joy index' of 59 points out of 100, four points less than the global average (63). India leads the international ranking with 73 points followed by Mexico (72) and Peru (72). In Europe, France with 64 points precedes Spain (63), Germany (62) and the United Kingdom (62). Italy precedes, however, only Greece (58), Bulgaria (58), Slovakia (57), Czech Republic (57), Portugal (56) and Japan (47).

In particular, compared to 31% of workers who feel more involved with their manager compared to a year ago, 59% of HRs believe that engagement has increased. Furthermore, only 43% of employees declare that they feel more productive compared to 2025 compared to 59% of human resources managers. Only 18% of workers receive formal or informal appreciation from their superior at least three times a month, while 60% of respondents attribute the same importance to benefits as salary.