Ad-land is suffering from a severe case of poor morale, with over one third of respondents (37%) in the United States reporting low or dangerously low morale.

Another 34% reported “satisfactory” levels of morale, while just over a quarter (29%) said morale was good or very good.

The respondents included employees of creative agencies, in-house agencies, brands, media agencies, and publishers, as well as freelancers, in this study by Campaign US.

The leading causes of low morale comprised various aspects of project planning – with respondents complaining about rush projects, poorly planned projects, and lack of project direction.

Dealing with office politics as well as sexism also contributed to employees’ low motivation levels.

However, the four factors that most contributed to bad morale were management, followed by lack of advancement opportunities, salary and work/life balance.

On the flipside, work-life balance was the factor most commonly contributing to good morale, followed by satisfaction with work.

ALSO READ: An oft-forgotten way to energise team morale

Among those who rated their company’s morale as “low” or “dangerously low”, 70% admitted they were actively seeking other jobs. That number plummeted to 20% for respondents who rated their company’s morale as “good” or “excellent”.

There seemed to be some correlation between advertising employees earning less than six figures and morale, as those making between US$50,000 and $100,000 were most likely to have low morale.

Those with salary of $100,000 or more were least likely to rate morale at their company as low (32%).

Image: Shutterstock