The best (and worst) places to work in 2022

Did you know, that the average person spends 1,795 hours a year at work?

It's important to work somewhere that won't leave you counting down the seconds 🥱(6,462,000 to be exact), that is why we quizzed over 200,000 people in the UK to find out what their jobs are really like.

Now with a little number crunching, we can reveal the best and worst places to work in 2022 according to YOU the Breakroom community.

You told us that you rate companies like - Rail operators 🚇 Rolls-Royce 🚘 and Openreach 👩🏼‍💻

Meanwhile, Betfred 🏇 Zara👗and Taco Bell 🌮 are some of the worst places to work in the UK

So, if you are keen to know what a job is really like from the people who actually do it day-in-day-out, this list is for you.

Top 10 places to work 👍

1. Joint 1st place: TransPennine Express / Great Western Railway / Transport for Wales / Northern Rail / West Midlands Trains

Best thing: “Great salary, great working conditions, excellent pension, not stuck behind a desk, every day is different, 4 day week, excellent overtime potential, great benefits, friendly colleagues.” – TransPennine Express Driver

Find out more about working at TransPennine Express 

2. Rolls-Royce

Best thing: “Work satisfaction, great relationship with fellow workers.” –Rolls-Royce Employee

Find out more about working at Rolls-Royce

3. BAE Systems

Best thing: “My line manager, the people, the work, flexible hours/working.” – BAE Systems Employee

Find out more about working at BAE Systems

4. Fire Service

Best thing: Flexibility, the people I work with, rewarding job.”— Fire Service Firefighter

Find out more about working at the Fire Service.

5. Airbus

Best thing: “Pay, training, fulfilment, fascinating industry.” —Airbus Employee

Find out more about working at Airbus

6. Tata Steel

Best thing: “4 on 4 off shift pattern, pension.” — Tata Steel Team member

Find out more about working at Tata Steel

7. Siemens

Best thing: “Good pay, excellent team, enjoyable work and challenging.” — Siemens Engineer

Find out more about working at Siemens

8. Openreach

Best thing: “Freedom to plan your own day, company vehicle, tools supplied, great pay, sick pay, great bonuses. Very flexible shifts.” — Openreach Fibre jointer

Find out more about working at Openreach

9. Nationwide Building Society 

Best thing: “Colleagues, job security, benefits.” –Nationwide Building Society Member Representative

Find out more about working at Nationwide Building Society 

10. Babcock

Best thing“Shift bonuses on top of weekend overtime pay, which means I could make about 350-400 for a sunday night 12h.” – Babcock Employee

Find out more about working at Babcock

Bottom 10 places to work 👎

1. Cera Care

Worst thing: “They try to put extra work on you at the last minute without asking if you can fit it in.” — Cera Care Employee

Find out more about working at Cera Care

2. Caremark

Worst thing: “Constant rota changes and being harassed to work overtime. Unable to book holidays and never get responses to emails or phone calls.” — Caremark Employee 

Find out more about working at Caremark

3. Betfred

Worst thing: Talking to customers who have issues with money, long hours, robbery, staff theft, violence, etc.” — Betfred Supervisor

Find out more about working at Betfred

4. Zara

Worst thing: “Very busy, overworked often, management very snobby, understaffed all the time, only hire part time for sales associate.” —Zara Employee

Find out more about working at Zara

5. Poundstretcher

Worst thing: “Constant changes that can be Daily or even hourly. The budget that I'm given to staff my store which is large is ridiculously small. I get little time off no support from my area manger. Nothing I say I taken seriously especially when it comes to things that my customers inform me about.” — Poundstretcher Employee 

Find out more about working at Poundstretcher

6. McColls

Worst thing: “Working from 5.30am to 6.15pm seven days a week without having a break during the day as no staff and no one would help from other stores.” McColls Employee

Find out more about working at McColls

7. Allied Healthcare  

Worst thing: “Constant pressure to get work done and not enough time to do it.” — Allied Healthcare Employee 

Find out more about working at Allied Healthcare  

8. The Range

Worst thing: “Not knowing what is happening across the company or for the next weeks shifts.” – The Range Employee

Find out more about working at The Range

9. HC One

Worst thing: “The short staff, the amount they expect us to do and how quickly they expect us to do it.” — HC One Employee

Find out more about working at HC One.

10. Taco Bell

Worst thing: “Low staff and working late when I have college early in the morning.” – Taco Bell Employee

Find out more about working at Taco Bell

Want to know how your job scores?

Get involved and take the Breakroom Quiz

We are a community of people helping each other discover stuff about work that we should have known before starting. 

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* Results based on Breakroom ratings for employers with more than 30 responses, as of January 2022

Published on 27 January 2022