Minnesota

America’s (21st) Happiest Working City

Feb 9th, 2011
by MegReilly.
8 comments

You know the old saying, statistics never lie, statisticians do.

I’m hoping the folks over at CareerBliss.com are statisticians.  They’re the ones who ranked Boston #21 in happiest working cities.  That’s gotta be a lie, right?  You’re telling me that employees in El Paso are happier than us?  Des Moines?  (The Hartford of the West!)  Minneapolis?!  I don’t know what my issue is with Minnesota.  But clearly, I have one.

CareerBliss conducted independent company reviews from employees nationwide.  They collected a total of 200,000 data points on eight factors of workplace happiness: growth opportunities, compensation, benefits, work-life balance, career advancement, senior management, job security, and whether the employee would recommend the company to others.  The factors were then ranked on the importance of the factor in the employee’s overall happiness.  The numbers were combined to find an average overall workplace happiness rating.

Those seem like reasonable evaluators.  And my dad sent me the article, which gives it more credibility.  But how come we’re so low?  I love Boston!  I love working here!  I have never once thought I would be happier working in San Jose.  (What a commute!  Rimshot.)  I know a few people who fled New York City for the West Coast, but that’s understandable.  But leave Boston?!  Maybe if you got traded or something, but I’m pretty sure Career Bliss wasn’t targeting pro athletes.  (Let this be a lesson to folks who think Minneapolis has better job security!  Rimshot!  I am on a ROLL today.)

Of course, I’m also the girl who was waxing poetic about the T last week.  So maybe I’m not the best judge of awesome.  Not to mention, I was pretty content in #26, Hartford.  Hold up, Hartford is #26?!  People hate Hartford!  And Detroit is #23?  Okay, this is just madness here.  How on earth is Boston only 2 spots above Detroit!?  (Good news:  St. Paul, MN is 50th. Take that, Minnesota!)

I never answered one of these surveys, so I’m putting this on you people.  Why you gotta hate!?

Actually, let’s not point fingers here.  But really — what is falling short in Boston?  I know that we’re got a pretty high cost of living, so maybe that makes your salary seem lower.  Has the New England Puritan work ethic destroyed your work-life balance?  Is the metro-region’s 7.1% unemployment rate making you nervous about retaining your current position?  Or do you just hate your boss?  (For the record, I love my boss.  I love all of my bosses.  They’re the best bosses in the world.  In case they’re reading this.)

But I wanna know.  And I bet all those people spending tons of money doing surveys and trying to plan a city around our demographic (one in three Bostonians!) want to know, too.   And if you also love Boston, you should want to know, too.  We’re all in this together.

Spill it:  Why are you so unhappy?  How can we make it better?  Tweet it, Facebook it, or, best of all, break it down in our comments section.

Why is working in Boston making Bostonians unhappy?*

*Note:  Ending these posts with questions makes me feel dangerously Carrie Bradshaw-ish.  I promise never to ask you to reflect on your dating life or relationship history.  I’m embarrassed that it’s even a reference I can make.

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Rebel With A Cause: Starting the New Year Off Right

Jan 3rd, 2011
by MegReilly.
3 comments

So, we’re past the holidays, where everyone from Scott Brown to Rick Fox shows up at homeless shelters to serve up dinner and photo ops, and New Year’s, full of resolution-fueled do-gooders and gym-goers.  High-schoolers applying to college are too late to pad applications with good deeds and we’ve given all our old winter coats to the Salvation Army – our closets are bare.  Toys for Tots has been replenished and distributed, no thanks to some Grinch-like villains.  Everyone has done their part.  The city is thankful.  We can all go back to our lives of quiet desperation, as they say.

But wait! Stop! Don’t!

This may be old news to everyone else, but I just saw a startling figure and I’ve gotta share it.  Did you know that Massachusetts ranks 34th in the country for average volunteer rates? And alright, Bostonians, before you go blaming it on Central Mass or the Cape, check this out:

Boston: 25.5% of residents volunteer; 29 hours per resident
Barnstable:  37.8% of residents volunteer; 95.6 hours per resident
Worcester:  26.1% of residents volunteer; 33.4 hours per resident

That’s right.  When it comes to volunteering, Boston is worse than both.  What gives, Boston!?  And I know what you’re going to say – sure, but we’ve got New York City totally beat (NYC:  15.9% of residents volunteer; 21.7 hours per resident).  Which is fine and all, but really, we’re supposed to be better than New York.  We’re Boston!  Not to mention, we’re losing to Minnesota, which, according to those best-places-to-live magazine articles, is pretty much the new Massachusetts, thanks to good schools, four distinct seasons, and fall foliage.  That’s right.  Minnesota.*  We took Kevin Garnett from them!  This is their revenge!

I can’t live like this.  It’s one thing to lose a congressional seat – I get it, people don’t like cold weather.  Fine.  Go to Florida.  See if I care.  But we can’t even win on doing good?  We can’t beat Minnesota?*

Now, since all of you people seem perfectly nice when I see you on the T and in the Common and waiting in line at City Hall, I’ll assume that it isn’t that you don’t want to improve the city or the lives of its people.  Maybe you think the city is pretty awesome as is (agreed, to a point) and that you just haven’t been asked.  Well, with regards to Tip O’Neill, I’m asking.

Here’s the plan – starting now, I’m going to present some great organizations in and around the city.  You read the posts, share with friends who might be interested, and follow up with the contacts I provide.  Then you start volunteering!  You improve lives and neighborhoods, make friends, and recruit new volunteers.  You think of other ways to make things better.  And as you come up with new thoughts, you post comments on the blog here.  We try to spotlight your issue.  People read about it, share, follow up, and then boom!  Cycle begins.  City gets better.  And we totally beat Minnesota next time around.*  And we keep Garnett.

*No offense to Minnesota.  I’m sure you’re great people.  But seriously. Minnesota?!

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