Happy employees are good for business, according to a Robert Half study on workplace happiness, It’s Time We All Work Happy™.  They’re more loyal, productive, healthier and motivated to contribute to their company’s bottom line. This should cause legal employers’ ears to perk up—especially when combined with another message in the report that may not be all that surprising: Legal professionals report the highest stress levels of all fields surveyed.

Does stress affect happiness? Of course it does. So the question now for employers is how do we reduce stress among a group for whom it has long been considered part and parcel? Other Robert Half research supports not only the idea that stress is rampant among legal professionals but that it has also increased over the years. In a 2017 survey, 42 percent of attorneys cited reduced stress levels as the one aspect of their job they would change, an 11-point increase since a similar survey was conducted in 2008.