There is no ‘job retention’ without ‘joy retention’; in other words, there is no way of retaining talent within a company without first creating the conditions for a positive work experience. This is confirmed by an international survey carried out in July 2026 by Opinium, which calculated the ‘global workplace joy index’ (a global index of satisfaction and wellbeing at work), involving 17,450 employees and 8,920 human resources managers and decision-makers residing in 27 countries.
Commissioned by Edenred, a specialist in ‘employee benefits’, and based in Italy on a sample of 1,000 employees and 400 HR managers, the study produced a ‘joy index’ of 59 out of 100, four points below the global average (63). Leading the international rankings is India with 73 points, followed by Mexico (72) and Peru (72). In Europe, France, with 64 points, ranks ahead of Spain (63), Germany (62) and the United Kingdom (62). Italy, on the other hand, ranks ahead of only Greece (58), Bulgaria (58), Slovakia (57), the Czech Republic (57), Portugal (56) and Japan (47).
In particular, whilst 31 per cent of workers feel more engaged by their line manager than they did a year ago, 59 per cent of HR professionals believe that engagement has increased. However, only 43 per cent of employees say they feel more productive than in 2025, compared with 59 per cent of HR managers. Furthermore, only 18 per cent of workers receive formal or informal recognition from their line manager at least three times a month, whilst 60 per cent of respondents attach the same importance to benefits as they do to their salary.
And whilst the challenge for Italian businesses is to improve people’s day-to-day experience, the answer does not lie in a single initiative but in a ‘package’ comprising recognition, engagement and benefits capable of meeting genuine needs. “The survey results show that the quality of the work experience goes hand in hand with business performance,” comments Stefania Rausa, Chief Marketing & Product Officer at Edenred Italia. “When people have a more positive experience of their work, their willingness to stay and their perceived productivity also increase.”