Survey: 87% of workers put on a happy face for someone

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Career-tools company Kickresume asked 1,002 workers around the world how they feel about their jobs, and found that outright hatred is rare but acting is common. In the week before the survey, 86% said they had acted more enthusiastic about their work than they felt at least once, and 11% said they did it constantly. Only 13% said they put on no "everything's great!" face for anyone, because they are genuinely happy at work.

The faking is not limited to unhappy employees. Among people who rated their job 5 out of 5, 80% still did it at least once that week. Meanwhile 12% said they hate their job, 15% dislike it, 38% were neutral and 35% like or love it.

Who the act is for

The most common answer was "everyone equally" (28%), followed by clients or customers (18%), the boss (16%), coworkers (13%) and themselves (13%). U.S. respondents reported the most acting: 45% said they acted more enthusiastic than they felt on most days or constantly, against 35% in Asia and 30% in Europe.

Unhappy workers tend to keep quiet. Among those who dislike their job, 37% have told nobody at work and only 9% have told their boss. Women were far less likely than men to go to the boss, at 3% against 12%. Kickresume's CEO, Peter Duris, said: "The workers most likely to leave are often the ones who've stopped telling you anything."

Dread and job hunting

Forty-three percent feel dread before a workday at least a few times a week, and 16% feel it before every one. Gen Z respondents reported it most often, at 51%. Two-thirds of the group (66%) had seriously considered leaving in the past six months, including 42% of those who like their jobs.

Some 82% had done at least one job-search task at work. Updating a CV or LinkedIn profile was the most common (55%), 44% had applied for a job and 26% had taken an interview call on the clock. Pay and benefits topped both the list of reasons to stay (25%) and the list of reasons to leave (24%).

Asked whether they would keep working after winning enough money to never work again, 45% said they would quit, 34% would stay on fewer hours and 21% would keep the job as it is.

Kickresume ran the anonymous online survey in September and October 2026 and reached all respondents through its own database. The company sells AI-based resume and job-search tools, and the results have not been peer reviewed.

Source: Kickresume