words on lips... I wrote recently about happiness at work . It's quite interesting as there seems to be a number of New Zealanders, or at least people using New Zealand based domains coming to these pages to investigate further. Apparently a number of New Zealanders are interested in happiness at work. We have heard a great deal about skill shortages -- 'desperate' -- is word used, and yet from my observation (as in, no quantifiable research, merely looking through the various sits vac options), skill shortage in the Wellington catchment seems restricted to words like 'Java Developer', 'Test Project Manager', and 'Contract'. Sure, these roles are well paid, but they're often short term contracts -- under a year. I do think a way to make a fortune in Wellington is to be able to communicate to both mortals and machines, particularly machines running databases. Most organisations I know or have heard of have dodgy data systems, and databases costing six figures. But what's this got to do with happiness? Today as I was taking my daily work I overheard people talking while waiting for the cross lights. They were commenting about how shattering they were finding their jobs. I'm putting words into their mouths, but the dialog went along the lines of 'I'm a capable, competent, well educated person. I've got 15 years experience in the workforce, I've got a degree. I'm well organised, I work well with others. I'm a good person. So how come I feel so