Half a decade on from COVID-19 lockdowns and the debate around workplace culture persists, with companies and employees as divided as ever.
Since the 2024 elections, JPMorgan and Amazon‘s office staff are required to be at the office five days a week and Dell enforced a strict in-office policy for its global sales team. Additionally, Meta disbanded its DEI team and ended its diverse hiring approach, while McDonald’s retired diversity goals for senior leadership and Walmart shut down its Center for Racial Equity.
Whatever your stance may be on how to create a happy and productive workplace—the stats don’t lie. Research conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management found that 44 percent of U.S. employees are burned out at work, 45 percent feel “emotionally drained” from their work and 51 percent feel “used up” at the end of the workday. This is compounded with recent research from Gallup that found U.S. employee engagement had reached a 10 year low.
Data from our employee feedback terminals (yes, those smiley-faced feedback buttons you see in airports, stores, and offices, that’s us), revealed that employee satisfaction across Europe was 85 percent, while at 69 percent in the U.S.
When looking at workplace data from my homeland, Finland, an even more shocking gap in employee engagement appears. A 2025 study by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health revealed just 10 percent of Finnish professionals are likely to have experienced job burnout. Observing this disparity, you might not be so surprised to hear that Finland has been named the world’s happiest country for the past seven years—per the U.N. World Happiness Report.
Whilst the concept of being “more happy” than other countries is amusing to us Finns, our outlook on life plays a key role in shaping our workplace culture.
It feels fitting that I write this as CEO of an organization dedicated to measuring happiness for businesses, but as we wait till later this month to hear the results of the 2025 World Happiness Report—and in light of the recent decisions taken by some global companies—I have been reflecting on what it is to be Finnish in a bid to help others improve workplace happiness.
I must start by saying that this happiness title is not self-proclaimed. I assure you that Finns would never be so bold as to come up with this. In fact, we have a saying, kell onni on, se onnen kätkeköön, which means “whoever has found happiness, that happiness they should hide.” In Finnish society, displays of happiness are often discouraged to avoid seeming boastful.
This mindset extends to Finnish workplace culture in two ways. First, organizations are flat. This reduces hierarchy and supports innovation. Secondly, Finnish members of the workforce prefer a more reserved approach to self-promotion. Finnish professionals let their work speak for itself, with teamwork and collective success valued over individual recognition. Everyone is trusted to play their part and able to do so without fear of colleagues taking undue credit.
This trust extends into the way Finnish companies approach work-life balance. While many countries saw the pandemic as a watershed moment, ushering in a new approach to remote and hybrid working, Finland was decades ahead of the curve, passing its initial Flexible Working Act in 1996. By 2020, the Working Hours Act expanded these rights, allowing full-time employees to choose when and where they work for at least half of their working hours. Finnish workers also receive a minimum of five weeks paid holiday per year, as well as 160 days of paid parental leave.
What’s important is that this approach doesn’t just create happy workplaces, but workplaces that are more efficient. A 2023 European Union study found that Finnish employees report higher job satisfaction and lower absenteeism compared to other European nations. Additionally, A 2024 review by the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health found that employees with greater autonomy at work reported less stress, greater motivation, and improved productivity.
By operating on the assumption that employees don’t need to be micromanaged to get results, Finnish companies create an environment in which all employees share accountability and trust each other to pull in the same direction.
So, what lessons can CEOs take from Finland’s workplace model?
Just like with finding happiness, there are no secrets or shortcuts for success in business. As U.S. companies double down on rigid office mandates and outdated metrics of success, Finland offers a compelling alternative, one where trust and autonomy are key drivers of not only happiness, but also performance. By shifting the focus from hours logged to actual impact, companies can create environments where employees thrive rather than burn out. In the words of the late, great Peter Drucker, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast,” and creating a happy workforce isn’t just a moral comfort—it’s a competitive advantage.
Miika Mäkitalo is CEO of HappyOrNot, the customer and employee feedback company famous for its smiley-button terminals positioned across the U.S., and in more than 4,000 airports, restaurants, stadiums, and retail stores globally. Over the last 15 years, Miika has held several upper management roles and holds a PhD in industrial engineering and management.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
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