Rural versus metropolitan lifestyle

Country workers have better training opportunities, work/life balance, pay and workplace conditions than city staff, making them happier in their jobs, a new survey has found.

The Leadership Management Australia research has found fewer regional employees are looking for another job.

They also have a higher rate of enjoyment at work than city workers because of the benefits of a country lifestyle.

The Leadership, Employment and Direction survey of 28,000 Australian workers, including employees at Mt Gambier, Whyalla and Port Lincoln, shows more than two-thirds, or 68 per cent, of country workers rate their enjoyment on the job as very high or high, compared with 63 per cent of city workers.

Regional workers are less likely to face a pay freeze, with only 24 per cent of workers told recently they would not receive a pay rise in the future compared with 39 per cent of city workers. LMA general manager Andrew Henderson says regional employees believe their workplace conditions have improved to a greater extent over the past 10 years.

They believe their workplaces are more flexible, safety standards are higher and there is less age discrimination in their workforce, he says.

“People in regional areas, having developed their sense of community from having to deal with adversity and volatility over the years, have become more adept than capital areas in looking after the human side of human resources,” he says.

The survey found 66 per cent of workers in the country felt very highly or highly engaged in their work and their company compared with 62 per cent of city workers.

Regional workers also trust their managers more than city staff.

Fewer regional than metropolitan employees have applied for a job, or considered looking and actively looked, in the past six months.

The survey reveals seven out of 10 country workers have access to workplace training and development opportunities as opposed to six out of 10 in the city.

More regional workers, 62 per cent, have access to mentoring and coaching than city workers (54 per cent).

Organisational psychologist Dr Darryl Cross says country communities are more close-knit. That creates a more caring environment between employer and staff than at city workplaces.

“In the country, you can’t escape each other, so people are always mindful of other people,” he says.

“The upside of that is people do take some interest in each other and take care of each other because they run into each other. In the city, workers are like ships passing in the night and there’s not the same commitment for people.”

Mannum workers Clint Warhurst, 20, and Rebecca Pym, 33, agree country staff are happier at work than their city counterparts. Unlike many young workers who leave country areas to seek out jobs in the city, they want to further their careers in the country.

They say they are happy workers because the country social environment has unique benefits over that of the city.

Ms Pym, a sales consultant at River Estates real estate, says being in a friendly atmosphere helps to improve happiness at work.

“In the country, it’s rude if you don’t say `hi, how are you going’ or wave to people as you pass them and in Adelaide or somewhere else, if you say `hi’ to a stranger, they look at you like you said something wrong,” she says. “It makes you a friendlier person and makes you happier.

“We’re just happier people.”

Mr Warhurst, a fourth-year apprentice mechanic at Mannum Auto Centre, says that having a more personal relationship with others in the workplace makes a happier working environment.

“It’s a different atmosphere, better people and you know pretty much everyone you deal with,” he says.

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