While a falling percentage of employees see their workplaces as efficient, they're generally a happy lot, a new survey suggests.

The global study, Towers Perrin's Workplace Watch for the second quarter of 2009, finds that 58 per cent of the people surveyed believe that their company's current structure makes conducting business efficient — a drop of 16 percentage points from the first quarter of this year.

And 73 per cent of those surveyed feel their company works continually to ensure processes "are as efficient as possible" — down from 81 per cent in the first quarter.

The consulting firm attributes the change in perception to several factors.

First, many companies have stopped promoting their efficiency to the staff. Secondly, many employees feel underutilized in their organizations. And lastly, with management tiers restructured in many companies, and jobs not re-allocated, fewer decisions are being made at a senior level, leading to less efficiency within the workplace.

Despite these findings, the study finds that employee morale is still high. Sixty-three per cent of the study's participants say that they are able to balance both work and their personal lives, an increase from 55 per cent in the first quarter.

And employees are backing their companies: 87 per cent say they support their company's values, and 84 per cent say they feel proud to be associated with their company.

Only 12 per cent report they are considering leaving their firm, though 21 per cent say it would not take a lot for them to seek other employment.

The second-quarter survey, done through online questionnaires, polled 610,000 employees worldwide in 69 companies. It was conducted April 2009 through June 2009.