These are the industries with the happiest hourly workers, according to survey

Despite worker shortages in the U.S., there are still many hourly employees who report feeling happy in their daily grind – depending on what kind of shift work they do and even where they live. 

A new "Shift Pulse" report from the workforce platform Deputy asked 421,000 American hourly workers across industries on how they felt about their shift, from a sliding scale of "stressed" to "amazing." 

The industries included everything from dentists, to retail, to warehousing and storage. 

Retail holds the medal for happiest shift workers, according to the report – earning the highest percentage of employees feeling "amazing" after shifts at 52%. 

Here were some of the key takeaways about hourly workers in America from the report:

Retail thrives among hourly workers 

The retail sector stood out with the highest percentage of employees feeling "amazing," which Deputy said suggested "a highly positive work environment possibly driven by customer interactions and job satisfaction."

Among retail workers, those employed at tobacco, e-cigarette and marijuana stores rated the most "amazing" shifts (70%). Another 18% of shifts left them feeling "good," netting 87% of shifts with positive emotions, according to the report. 

Some 90% of gym workers cited positive feelings after shifts — with 59% feeling "amazing" and 32% feeling "good."

For café and coffee shop workers, 90% said they felt positive emotions after shifts, with 59% feeling "amazing" (tied with gym workers) and 32% feeling "good."

Healthcare hourly workers are stressed

Meanwhile, healthcare workers reported experiencing a high level of stress despite a strong showing of "amazing," according to the report. 

Overall, the healthcare industry reported mostly positive emotions, with more than three quarters (78%) of shifts leaving workers feeling good or amazing — remaining steady from 2023 (77%), Deputy said. 

However, not all shift workers in healthcare felt the same. 

Dentists experienced the highest rates of shift satisfaction among healthcare workers, with 96% of shifts bringing positive emotions (87% saying "amazing" and 9% saying "good"), according to the report. 

Hospital workers also reported satisfaction with their shifts, with 85% reporting positive emotions after shifts (56% saying "amazing" and 28% saying "good").

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On the opposite end of the spectrum, outpatient care centers had higher rates of negative emotions among healthcare workers, with 11% saying they left their shift feeling stressed or frustrated. 

Animal health workers also reported higher rates of negative emotions, with 9% of workers saying their shift left them stressed or frustrated, according to the report. 

Supply chain workers appear least satisfied 

While the conversation around supply chain issues is frequently focused on empty shelves or customer dissatisfaction, such pressures also appear to impact the hourly workers in this sector, too, the report notes. 

Among the industries surveyed, warehousing and storage workers were the least satisfied with their work. Some 19% said they felt stressed or frustrated after their shifts, according to the report. 

For delivery and postal service workers, 13% reported leaving shifts stressed or frustrated. Another 11% of logistics, distribution, and freight workers also had stressful or frustrating shifts this year. 

Some 9% of manufacturing workers left shifts frustrated or stressed, the report said.

"The U.S. depends on hourly workers — their happiness should be critically important to all of us, so it’s great to see that the vast majority of workers are leaving their shifts feeling good," Silvija Martincevic, CEO of Deputy, said in a statement. 

"Perhaps not surprisingly, we’re seeing worker sentiment is highest in industries that provide customers with products and experiences that make them happy, but the industries where we’re seeing higher levels of stress and frustration are equally important," Martincevic said.

US states with most happy hourly workers

Using the hundreds of thousands of responses, Deputy’s analysis also determined the U.S. states with the happiest hourly workers:

Oregon

Oregon took the top spot with 75% of respondents saying they feel "amazing," the highest percentage of any other state.

North Carolina

The Tar Heel State ranked No. 2 in the survey, with 70% of workers in North Carolina saying they felt amazing at the end of their shift.

Virginia

Landing in third place was Virginia, where 66% of employees polled said they felt amazing at the end of the day.

Connecticut

Connecticut rounded out the top four with 60% of workers on the front lines rating their sentiment as "amazing" at the end of a shift, "potentially due to a balanced work-life environment and smaller work communities in some industries at least," the report said.

US states with least happy hourly workers

According to Deputy's report, there were several U.S. states with the least happy hourly workers, including Connecticut – which had a sharp divide in how workers felt at the end of the day. 

Connecticut

The Constitution State was also found to have the highest readings of stress among frontline workers, with 20% describing their sentiment as "stressed" and another 20% saying they felt frustration at the end of their shift.

Indiana

In Indiana, 34% of workers reported high-stress and frustration levels, suggesting "a particularly stressful work setting, potentially due to weaker wage policies and worker protections," the report said.

Oklahoma

In Oklahoma, 19% of workers said they were stressed, and 8% said they felt frustrated at their job.

This story was reported from Cincinnati. FOX Business contributed.

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