Work and well-being: An empirical analysis using the regional database

Drawing on the concept of work-related well-being, this article tests a methodological toolkit designed to comprehensively assess an individual's standing in the world of work. The authors' approach to measuring work-related well-being relies on data from the Vologda Region labor potential quality monitoring survey. The uniqueness of the proposed study is due to the capabilities of its information base, which helps to construct a three-tier system of work-related well-being indicators. Alongside objective, factual indicators, this system incorporates two sets of subjective assessments that capture different dimensions of subjective well-being. The main findings of the study are as follows: 1) across most key dimensions, the level of work-related well-being is fairly high, largely because subjective indicators tend to outpace the factual ones; 2) assessments of work-related well-being in virtually all of its dimensions are directly correlated with a family's level of material well-being; 3) the most acute problem areas in the profile of work-related well-being are found in its non-monetary aspects, primarily, professional development; 4) the crucial factors that positively influence the level of well-being are the level of professional education – provided it matches the requirements of the workplace – and the stability of employment; 5) the level of work-related well-being is only weakly correlated with age but is closely associated with the qualitative characteristics of the worker's labor potential. The practical significance of the study lies in its potential to produce well-grounded management decisions at both the corporate and the regional level, aimed at creating higher-quality and more decent employment that helps improve a person's standing in the world of work.