MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos working in the government are the happiest, according to Jobstreet, who released the results of their 2016 Happiness Index on Wednesday, August 31.

On an 11-point weighted scale rating with 11 as the highest, government employees who answered Jobstreet’s survey from mid-June to mid-July rated their happiness a 6.66.

Jobstreet Philippines Country Manager Philip Gioca explained after the presentation on August 31 that this year’s survey used a different methodology from 2015.

“The methodology last year was a sample question of one to 5 and it actually focused on ‘Are you happy? Are you happy currently?’ Now, the methodology was we used an index. We indexed and that gives us a weighted average, so it has a better view on a scale. And the other methodology now is that the same questions were used not only in the Philippines but also across Asia.

Jobstreet’s survey did not identify from which departments these government employees worked for.

The next two happiest industries were Education at 6.53 and Oil/Gas at 6.49.

The industries on the low end of the happiness scale were Retail at 6.08, Banking & Finance at 6.03, and BPO/Call Centers at 5.99.

The top factors that make Philippine employees’ happy are good relationships with their colleagues, convenient work location, and working in a reputable company.

Jobstreet also surveyed job happiness according to tenure, position, specialization, and location.

In the Philippines, employees who have been working 6 months to less than a year are the happiest, while those working for 5 or more years are least happy.

According to the survey, fresh graduates are the happiest Filipino employees, while those at a supervisor level ranked least happy.

Those specializing in hospitality ranked highest on the happiness index, while marketing ranked least.

And employees in Bicol are the happiest in the Philippines among those surveyed, while those in the Negros Island Region ranked least happy.

In Southeast Asia, Philippine employees were the happiest with their jobs at 6.25, but fell behind Indonesia (6.58) and Thailand (6.30) in terms of job optimism. For the survey on job optimism, respondents were asked if they felt they would be happy with their jobs 6 months from the time they took the survey.

Are you in any of the happiest industries in the Philippines? Let us know what you think of Jobstreet’s Happiness Index in the comments! – Rappler.com